Classroom turtle ‘Ms. Chompers’ allegedly tortured at Beaufort school. Custodian arrested
A tough local turtle is in recovery after a night-shift custodian at Whale Branch Early College High School was caught allegedly torturing the classroom pet with acid and a wooden mop.
Armard Delrease Breeland, a 22-year-old from Pritchardville, was charged Dec. 20 with felony ill-treatment of animals, jail records show. He was an employee of HES Facilities Management, a contracted custodial provider that specializes in cleaning school grounds. A spokesperson for the company said Breeland was “terminated immediately” following the incident.
In the final weeks of the fall 2023 semester, science teacher Matthew Plantinga began noticing “suspicious issues” with his classroom’s turtle tank, home to a red-eared slider named “Ms. Chompers.” According to the Sheriff’s report, students noticed the water was cloudy and “smelt sour,” live plants inside had begun withering and upon one weekly inspection, the water’s pH levels were “1,000 times more acidic than the bottom range for the turtle,” the teacher noted.
After an “emergency clean-out” of the tank, Plantinga went to an assistant principal, believing the habitat was possibly being disturbed by a student. With the help of school staff, he set up a surveillance camera facing the classroom’s tank.
Footage from the night of Dec. 19 revealed a man — later identified as Breeland — approaching the turtle and pouring what appeared to be sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide into the tank. Breeland then used the end of a wooden mop to “repeatedly stab” at its shell before spraying an unknown custodial chemical at the animal. At one point, the turtle began scratching at the side of its tank “attempting to escape” while being stabbed, the report says.
Throughout his time in the classroom, which lasted at least 10 minutes, Breeland was also repeatedly seen “staring” at the animal’s tank.
Plantinga was able to identify some of the chemicals Breeland used because they had gone missing from the storage room of his science classroom, according to the police report. Both sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide are considered highly dangerous and corrosive substances, especially for aquatic organisms.
After the video footage was reviewed, a school resource officer questioned Breeland, who said he “occasionally plays with the turtle” and had poured a substance from his custodial cart to clean the tank. Breeland repeatedly said he was “confused” and “did not understand” the situation, the officer noted.
Beaufort County deputies arrested Breeland. He was released the next day, Dec. 21, on a personal recognizance bond. Breeland also pleaded guilty in July 2020 to giving false information to police and was wanted in other South Carolina counties and Georgia for a slew of pending charges, including credit card fraud, possession of drugs and illegal firearms possession.
Breeland’s felony charge of ill-treatment of animals is used for anyone who allegedly “tortures,” “torments” or “inflicts unnecessary pain or suffering” on an animal. If convicted, his prison sentence could range from 180 days to five years.
An email received Wednesday afternoon from the legal team of HES Facilities Management says Breeland “had only recently” begun working for the company and that he passed all background screens. “HES strongly condemns the mistreatment of animals in any way and has a zero tolerance for such behavior,” the statement read.
She’s still chompin’
Ms. Chompers was taken to the Avian & Exotic Animal Hospital of Georgia, where veterinarians found damage on her scutes — a turtle shell’s specialized plates — that were deep enough “to expose the bone.” Worried that toxins could have spread into its bloodstream, doctors checked the turtle for infection.
As of mid-January, Ms. Chompers was back in the science classroom she calls home. The turtle is “recovering and has a positive prognosis,” school district spokesperson Candace Bruder told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
This story was originally published January 17, 2024 at 2:29 PM.
