Tab for Student Prank About $10,000, Police Say

NEWPORT BEACH — Police are searching for 70 to 80 Newport Harbor High School seniors who participated in the traditional senior prank night last week and caused about $10,000 damage to the school.

Between 1 and 3:30 a.m. Thursday, the group went on a rampage, vandalizing school property and stealing mailboxes and signs from homes and businesses as far away as Santa Ana, police said.

The group of mostly male students painted graffiti on the school, broke billboards and roof tiles, poured cement into drains and threw a coin-operated mechanical horse into the swimming pool, said Sgt. Steven Shulman. Some students also poured glue into lockers.

“I think this prank night went beyond the others in terms of the extent of the damage,” said Newport-Mesa Unified School District Trustee Judith A. Franco.

Prank night is traditionally on a Saturday before graduation, Franco said, but no one knows exactly when it will be held and no one anticipated that the students would cause thousands of dollars of damage.

Past prank nights also have included some minor thefts and vandalism, but they were tame in comparison to this year’s spree.

A Bob’s Big Boy statue once was taken from a restaurant and left in the quad, and another time, a lifeguard stand was placed on the beach volleyball court.

Franco said she remembered one year where students hitched a fake whale to the back of a boat, attempting to tow it close to the school, but the boat sank. And glue in the lockers, she said, is standard practice.

Police and school officials have interviewed a number of students but had not made any arrests as of Saturday afternoon.

Anyone with information about prank night or who believes their property may have been taken or damaged by the students can call police at (800) 550-NBPD.