Teaneck H.S. Officials Say Claims Of Extensive Damage To School Were Exaggerated
NEW JERSEY (CBSNewYork) -- It's becoming a battle of he said, she said.
An early morning senior prank at Teaneck High School in New Jersey ended with dozens of students in handcuffs on Thursday.
Police, tipped off by an alarm, said the damage inside the school was extensive. But now, school officials say those claims are highly exaggerated, CBS 2's Christine Sloan reported.
Police were called to a burglar alarm at the school around 2:30 a.m. Thursday.
When officers arrived, they said they found desks and chairs flipped over, graffiti on the walls, silly string on the floor and hot dogs taped to lockers.
"Numerous desks, chairs were dragged out into the hallways, you couldn't make it through some of the hallways," said Acting Police Chief Robert Carney on Thursday. "The urine all over the hallways, the grease that was applied to the doors, there was a large amount of it."
Now, school officials say reports of destruction at the school are being blown out of proportion.
"There was no damage to the facility, furniture, or equipment. The staff found no indication of urine," the school's superintendent said.
The superintendent added that the school has a "concern about exaggerated reports of destruction and mayhem."
Teaneck H.S. Officials Say Claims Of Extensive Damage To School Were Exaggerated
Students who spoke with WCBS 880's Levon Putney, defended their school.
"We're not a bad school. It's just people make mistakes," one student said.
"We still should have never been throwing desks and all that stuff, but I think they over-blowing in," said senior Sharika Walker.
Another senior said he's worried the incident will hurt some of his buddies' chances at college.
"I just hope that everything is good and they keep their scholarship, their senior service, their prom, and they get to graduate and move on with their lives," he said.
Junior Nicole Garcia said she still wants to do a senior prank next year.
"I wanna do something where you know, everyone can just laugh," she said.
Police do have pictures of the damage. They had no comment about the school's position, Sloan reported.
The school is also equipped with surveillance video. Investigators will be looking at that, but right now, neither side is talking about what exactly happened inside the school.
Check Out These Other Stories From CBSNewYork.com:
