[DIV class=head2]Five teens accused in prank at Jersey High School
[DIV class=byLine align=left]By [A class=byLine href="mailto:
[email protected]"][FONT color=#000000]Alexa Aguilar[/FONT][/A]
[DIV class=byLine align=left]ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
[DIV class=byLine]04/17/2006
[DIV class=story align=left] [DIV style="MARGIN-TOP: 0px; FLOAT: left; WIDTH: 1px; HEIGHT: 125px"][/DIV]
Five Alton teens face criminal charges after four of them, armed with plastic water guns, climbed through a window at Jersey High and doused students taking a history exam.
Alton High was out of school for a holiday break Thursday and students at Jersey Community High School were wrapping up a shortened day when the four young men, dressed in black with bandannas covering their faces, slid through a first-floor window into a classroom, sprayed the classroom with Super Soaker water guns, then sprinted down the hallway, said Sgt. Roger Kirby, of the Jerseyville Police Department.
A fifth teen was waiting outside in the getaway car. A neighborhood resident had already called police because the car was parked in her driveway and was suspicious because the car had duct tape over its license plate, Kirby said.
When police arrived, two teens were hopping into the car; the other two followed from a separate exit. [SCRIPT language=DOH!script] [!-- // begin DisplayAds("Frame1","",""); // --] [/SCRIPT] [SCRIPT language=DOH!Script1.1 src="vny!://OAS-Central.RealMedia.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_jx.ads/www.stltoday.com/news/education/1633827341@Frame1" type=text/XXXXscript][/SCRIPT] [A href="vny!://oas-central.realmedia.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.stltoday.com/news/education/970858990/Frame1/default/empty.gif/31383662336232643433653765613730?" target=_top][img height=2 alt="" src="vny!://a248.e.akamai.net/7/800/1129/0/oascentral-s.realmedia.com/RealMedia/ads/Creatives/default/empty.gif" width=2 border=0][/A]
Now, the five face misdemeanor charges of mob action, criminal trespassing and disorderly conduct. Three - Derek W. Spencer, Joshua M. Sievers and Roger H. Landreth - will be prosecuted as adults. The other two are unnamed because they are 16 years old.
"They said they didn't know why we were making such a big deal out of this, that it was just a joke," Kirby said. "They invaded our school, concealed their identity ... we didn't take it as a joke," especially considering the time of year, he said, referring to the upcoming anniversary of the Columbine school shootings.
Alton High Principal Phil Trapani said as of Monday, he had yet to hear anything from Jerseyville authorities. Punishment would likely result only if any of the students were in organizations such as athletics or National Honor Society, he said. Those students agree to follow a "code of conduct, " in addition to the school's regular school policies. Because the charges are misdemeanors, he said, he would likely leave punishment decisions to a club sponsor, he said.
As for motive, both Trapani and Kirby said there was no historical rivalry between the schools.
"It was kind of a surprise to us," Kirby said. "We thought it was kind of odd ... there are no athletic rivalries or anything."
Trapani said that while there is no rivalry, students from the two schools do intermingle.
"It was probably teenagers being teenagers," he said.[/DIV]
