MONTROSE, N.Y., June 18, 2007
Alarm Clock Prank Brings Felony Charges
19 High School Seniors Charged With Planting False Bomb For Taping Clocks To School Walls
-
Photo
(AP / CBS)
-
Interactive
Education In America
Backpack ready? Learn more about education in America through fun facts, national statistics and unusual schools.
The Hendrick Hudson High School seniors appeared in Cortlandt Town Court on Monday morning. Fifteen of the 19 pleaded not guilty and four did not enter a plea because they had no attorneys.
The students are charged with second-degree placing a false bomb, which is a felony. If convicted, they each face up to four years in prison. They also
face one violation count of criminal trespass.
One attorney, John Sarcone of White Plains, who spoke outside the court, was angry that the students are banned from graduation on Friday. He said the students were innocent until proven guilty and they should not be penalized.
Dozens of other students have been ordered to perform at least five hours of community service for donating money or helping buy the clocks.
The students used a key that had been missing for a year to break into the school last weekend and then used duct tape to secure the clocks to hallway walls.
The students touched off a motion detector inside the school. State police who responded feared that the ticking clocks might be bombs and called in bomb-sniffing dogs.
“It never crossed anyone’s mind that this could be taken that way,” said Alex Kane, a senior who said he contributed $1 to the clock fund, told the New York Times.
One student, Ariel Billary, 18, was at the courthouse to offer support. She said keeping the students out of graduation also hurts the parents, who waited all these years to see their children graduate.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Video and Galleries from U.S.
-
Video
The Anti-Drug Campaign
-
Video
Something To Walk For
-
Video
Amsterdam's Controversial Pastime
- 1
- 2
- next
See all 78 CommentsI sincerely doubt any will serve jail time but that the judge involved will hand out punishments severe enough to make them learn a hard lesson. Missing the prom/graduation ceremonies should be the least of their worries because they do face potential jail time.
As to the families - The blame lies with the 19 students - nobldy else.
There is no mention that these clocks were made to appear to look like bombs. There also is no mention that any threat was called into the school. Why are alarm clocks being called bombs?
Sounds to me like these kids planted simple alarm clocks and the 'zero-tolerance' lynch mob decided to blow it all out of proportion.
I can see getting them on breaking and entering but calling alarm clocks 'bombs' is just plain crazy.
Months ago, Adults planted circut boards on boston Bridges that actually looked like bombs and it created a panic. They didn't get in any trouble for that.
So we throw a bunch of kids in jail for this. Then we have to release more serious offenders (DUI offenders)due to overcrowding?
Does anyone think that taping clocks to walls warrants this kind of punishment?
Nobody was arrested, nobody even thought twice about it. I was one of those youths and it was hunting season. It was common to go from hunting to school directly and take our weapons with us.
The entire culture of today with a combination of zero tolerance and risk adverse nature has caused so much panic and insanity. Officials at every level refuse to use common sense in deciding how and when to punish otherwise law abiding students.
When a 7 year old is expelled for bringing in a squirt gun to school, one has to stop and think if perhaps this has gotten way beyond thoughtful use of force. This clock fiasco is another perfect example.
We are spending billions on Homeland Security and this is the best the State Police can give us. A terrorist can buy a gun on any street corner, but alarm clocks taped to a high school sets security bells a chiming. Did any one actually think of pulling one of the wall? duh ...
If I am the state cops I would really feel quite ridiculous. At best this is a prank to laugh at ... at worst it is a school issue. The terrorists have won .. we are afraid of our own shadow!
Typical knee-jerk reaction from stupid cops justifying their existence.
Meanwhile, we are all potential terrorist thanks to the propaganda we hear.
May I listen in on your phone conversation to make sure you don't say anything sounding terroristic?
For crying out loud - how in the world is a high school kid to know such an action could be interpreted as constructing a "false bomb" if they aren't taught that?
And what is to prevent a husband or wife from having their spouse charged with the same crime if the spouse sets an alarm unbeknownst to their partner using a new and unfamiliar alarm clock?
Why can't I walk into a State Highway Patrol office and have them charged with "creating a false bomb" if some officer has an alarm clock ticking away on his or her desk to remind them to take their insulin?
Political correctness kills!!!
They wasted police and bomb squad time, tax monies and more, anyone else would be in jail, throw the book at them and set an example. Bringing guns, tear gas, weapons, calling in fake bomb threats, breaking in and now planting apparant bombs goes well beyond "prank" stage.
"Prank" is when you put a cup of water over the restroom door so it spills on someone opening the door, "prank" is putting glue on a student's seat so when they sit down their pants get stuck to the seat, "prank" is filling a student's locker with styrofoam peanuts or shaving cream to the top so it all falls out when they open the door.
Those are examples of harmless "pranks", committing burglary, planting devices that bring out the polcie and bomb squad is NOT a "prank" it is CRIMINAL and should be prosecuted as such.
Stop calling criminal acts "pranks" because these are certainly not!
My world hasn't changed. If yours has, then the terrorists have in fact won.
B&E? Trespassing? Sure. Defacing public property? Maybe. But a ticking clock does not a bomb make. What if it had been a cellphone taped to the wall? Would that have been handled the same way since you can make a cellphone-triggered bomb?
Now, if the clocks had been taped to a bundle of road flares or something, then maybe I'd agree. But this is just a clock.
When I was a kid we used to go into discount stores like K-Mart and set all the clocks and clock radios to the highest volume and have them go off at the same moment. We'd be clear across the store giggling like crazy as the staff had to go around silencing our handiwork.
I guess that made me a junior terrorist huh?
If you look at it another way, the cops got some excitement, the bomb squad got some free training and nobody was hurt in the process. It cost no extra tax dollars, except maybe a few gallons of gas to drive to the scene,
Lighten up for Jesus sake.
Yes, the high schoolers actions were illegal, and some level of correction is necessary. But we have to stop over-reacting in this country. Otherwise the terrorists have won.
Can we say, "over-reacting?"
And to dmorg4, you should go back to school, you have no idea how to spell or talk correct! Have you even passed the 6th grade yet? For those who has not read what dmorg4 wrote, here it is, get ready to laugh:
"i feel sorry for the students because if somebody dont save them there gonna be the victim of a bunch of idiots that will prosocute any body for anything i wish somebody had some uncommon sensce.
Posted by dmorg4" -- GO BACK TO SCHOOL!
This was a silly kid prank. They wanted the clocks to alarm , not be mistaken for BOMBS. Grow up adult, and get a sense of humor. Also, it is NOT a crime to applaud at a graduation, either. I wonder what pranks were conducted during the "authorities in charge" graduating class. If NONE, then maybe they are simpy jealous.
I have seen such a rise in this it makes me sick. Since most children have a computer, they think they are the foremost authority on everything, and their childish demeanor makes them look downright stupid. I think these children need to have some %u201CScared Straight%u201D stuff thrown at them, like sticking them in prisons with people that wished they had done things differently.
Well, I "broke" into my HS shortly before graduation too, me and about 50 other kids. We wrote various things on blackboards and planted an empty liquor bottles in several teacher's desks... Everyone got a laugh out of it.
Breaking in was a matter of opening a basement window that had been unlocked for just this occasion. It had been done many times before by previous classes, so it was no surprise. Nothing was ever destroyed or damaged and was considered a right of passage.
What did last year's class of this HS do? Probably something similar.
"The Terrorists have won!"
Thought that would get a rise out of someone. I see too many times where high school children who get caught doing something and getting away with it, so later in life, they do something more severe, which means they never learned a lesson in the first place. Yeah, I did plenty of *** while in high school I wished I hadn't done. Do I live in fear? Nahhhhh...Am I uptight? Nahhhhh, probably one of the most laid back guys you'll ever be acquainted with. Several times this past school year, calls were made to 911 about bombs planted in schools, and each school had to do the same drill every time. Evacuate the school, search it for bombs and call the parents and yada yada yada. Point is, these sort of pranks can't be taken lightly anymore because of the seriousness of the chance one could be real. And yes, you can make a bomb out of an alarm clock, C-4 goes a long way, so does nitro. The authorities have to expect the worse when it comes to this.
Posted by newster1 at 01:26 PM : Jun 18, 2007
Hmm I must have read a different story than you did. I thought it said the KEY was LOST for a year...and the school, trying to deal with minimal theft or break-ins, didn't change the locks?
Everyone has good points here...but I always believed innocent UNTIL proven guilty. Now everyone is guilty of "felony" crimes, if they sneeze and someone doesn't like it.
Lets GET REAL America.....How do you break in when you have a key???
30 years ago when I was a kid growing up in a steel industry town, throwing snowballs at cars in the winter was like a sport. I remember being chased was very exciting and adventuresome. One time (I'm 6'7" tall) my two buddies and I were being chased and we were running behind houses to try and get away from this guy who must have been a cross country runner. It was completely snow white outside and my friends easily passed under a white cloths line that was still up in a neighbors yard. I didn't have that luck and the cloths line hit me right in the mouth and jerked me to the ground cutting the edges of my mouth. We ended up getting away, never were put on Ritalin, graduated from college, and have held good jobs our whole life.
If these kids don't have some long rap sheet where they are terrorising the whole community, let them pay for there youthful mistake with community service.
This is a perfect case for jury nullification, if the prosecutor is dumb enough to charge them.
- 1
- 2
- next
See all 78 Comments