Vandals put glue in locks outside Auburndale High
AUBURNDALE (FOX 13) - Auburndale Police suspect two "senior pranksters" stuffed industrial strength glue into 23 locks, causing thousands of dollars worth of damage.
"All I have heard is that people think it is stupid," said one student.
Police say the pranksters could face a felony charge, if surveillance video they released brings a solid lead.
"It is a first degree misdemeanor because of the amount of criminal mischief. It is a felony for the burglary," said Assistant Police Chief Andy Ray. "It's a big deal."
On Saturday night, surveillance cameras captured what appears to be two males, one wearing a baseball cap, the other a hoodie and a face covering, going from door to door on campus, smearing industrial strength glue into 23 different locks, which then hardened.
A teacher found it Sunday morning, and staffers had to scramble to get the building open Monday.
"They were able to somehow dig it out of one lock to get them into the building so they could get kids in there Monday morning," said Ray.
A locksmith was called in, who charged $100 each to replace the locks.
The bill to taxpayers doesn't sit well with a senior who used to be in student government.
"That's stuff that doesn't go towards the funding for our school and all the activities we do at Auburndale," said student Alex Cox. "It's definitely immature."
Police are confident that once the pictures get out, someone will recognize the vandals and want the financial reward for making a tip to CrimeStoppers.
A few weeks ago, students from another school sprayed fire extinguishers and vandalized cars at Auburndale.
They were arrested after surveillance video, from the same cameras, got out.
"Pick a senior prank that is not going to put the taxpayers out, not going to cause damage," said Ray. "[If] you want to toilet paper something, that's great, that can be cleaned up."
Police said the reward was going to be at least a few hundred dollars.
Classes have proceeded as normal.