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Senior Prank Gone Wild: Police Arrest 62 N.J. Students

A Bergen County, N.J., police officer (right) walks with a police dog into Teaneck High School, where 62 students were arrested during an overnight break-in on Thursday in Teaneck.
Julio Cortez
/
AP
A Bergen County, N.J., police officer (right) walks with a police dog into Teaneck High School, where 62 students were arrested during an overnight break-in on Thursday in Teaneck.

We're pretty sure they've all realized what a horrible idea this turned out to be: Sixty-two students in Teaneck, N.J., were arrested after a senior prank went too far.

According to The Newark Star-Ledger, police say the students broke into Teaneck High School and urinated in the hallways, flipped desks, sprayed Silly String on the floor, smeared Vaseline on the doors and taped hot dogs to lockers. The AP reports students also spray-painted the walls.

Police were alerted to the break-in by an alarm. The Star-Ledger adds:

"When police arrived, several students ran from the building, while others hid inside.

"In the end, 62 high school seniors were arrested, including 24 adults, Carney said. The 38 juveniles were released to their parents.

"All of them will be charged with burglary and criminal mischief, Carney said."

The AP adds that police from a dozen neighboring towns as well as county police officers responded. Officers used a K-9 unit to sniff out some of the students who were hiding.

"It is possible that a few got away, but the majority were caught," Acting Police Chief Robert Carney told the wire service.

"He said the students told officers that it was a senior prank — an annual tradition at the northern New Jersey school of 1,300 students, though it is usually not this involved. As they were arrested, Carney said, some students were scared but others were laughing," the AP reports.

This story reminds us of a story out of Albany, N.Y., that happened last September, when more than 300 teens broke into the vacation home of former NFL player Brian Holloway.

They partied and allegedly caused more than $20,000 worth of damage.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.