Charges being downgraded against most students arrested after New Jersey senior class prank
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The top prosecutor in a New Jersey county where dozens of high school students were arrested after a senior class prank says he's downgrading charges against most of them.
The 63 students had faced burglary and criminal mischief charges stemming from the May 1 prank at Teaneck High School. Police who responded to a burglar alarm say they found the school vandalized.
But Bergen County prosecutor John Molinelli announced Wednesday that 24 students who are 18 or older will instead face disorderly person offenses of criminal trespass and criminal mischief. Nearly all the other students will be eligible for a program that offers a chance to avoid a permanent record.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The school's superintendent says the prank was exaggerated in the media and janitors found no evidence students urinated in hallways.