Three teenagers in Florida are facing felony charges after allegedly causing more than $100,000 worth of damages at a local middle school.
The Putnam County Sheriff's Office accused the teens of burglarizing Jenkins Middle School in Palatka on Sunday afternoon, using golf clubs from the gym. Staff at the local high school were able to identify the teens from CCTV footage.
When officers arrived at the scene, they discovered broken windows, damaged toilets, overflowing sinks, broken security cameras and 17 discharged fire extinguishers.
"Juveniles wreak havoc on Jenkins Middle, cause $100K in damage," the Putnam County Sheriff's Office announced in a social media release Tuesday.
"At around 4 p.m. on Sunday, the Palatka Fire department responded to a call of smoke in the area of the middle school campus. Upon arrival, they saw three teenagers running from the campus. At the same time, deputies and Palatka Police officers arrived," Putnam County Sheriff's Office wrote.
"Prior to being destroyed, security cameras caught the destruction on camera and due to the approximate age of those in the video, stills were taken to Palatka Junior-Senior High School where one of the youth resource deputies was able to positively identify the individuals."
The teens are facing charges of first-degree felony burglary with more than $1,000 in damages, third-degree felony criminal mischief and third-degree preventing or obstructing extinguishment of a fire by interfering with the fire extinguishers.
With all of the teens facing charges being 14 years of age, officials will not release their names or photos. The Putnam County Sheriff's Office explained that they would only release the names of juveniles if the crimes committed threatened or endangered the public.
The school's gym, which was damaged during the burglary, is owned separately by the City of Palatka and will be treated as a completely separate investigation and case.
Newsweek has reached out to the Putnam County Sheriff's Office for comment.
Crimes in schools often go unreported, between 2019 and 2020, the percentage of public schools that recorded one or more incidents was higher than the percentage that reported one or more incidents to law enforcement, according to recent data.
Last year, the "devious licks" TikTok trend saw students across the U.S. encouraged to steal and vandalize school property in a viral internet challenge. This most recent case however is not believed to be related to any internet challenge.
The "devious licks" challenge was banned by the app but incidents still saw teens arrested for their actions against campuses. In October, four Pennsylvania teens were arrested for causing over $10,000 worth of damages to school buses after they posted their actions on TikTok.
Update 8/31/22 9:57 a.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information.
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