Cricket caper included T-shirts

By Jessie Burchette

jburchette@salisburypost.com

SPENCER — The well-planned North Rowan High School Cricket Caper of 2009 included T-shirts printed to promote the event.

Some of those in on the event wore "Hush Hush" T-shirts, apparently spreading the message of the chirp attack to come.

And police seized a set of keys to the schools which have been handed down from one senior class to another.

Spencer Police Chief Robert Bennett said knowledge of the caper was widespread. When staff discovered the crickets, students were already lined up to tell all.

Bennett said all eight students cited admitted to participating in the caper. Four of those admitted to being in the building, four others claim they did not go inside the building.

All eight are charged with one count each of breaking and entering, and one count each of injury to real property, both misdemeanors. All are seniors.

Those charged are:

- Amanda Elizabeth Sisco, 17, Dixie Lane, Salisbury;

- Andrew Francis Hallet, 17, Fairway Ridge Road, Salisbury;

- Miller Colby Sokolowski, 17, Deerfield Circle, Salisbury;

- Caitlin Julia Crawford, 17, Yadkin Ave.;

- Lauren Ashley Snider, Benjamin Drive, Salisbury;

- Kayla Shae Morgan, Leonard Road, Salisbury;

- Drew Avery Crowell, 17, Main St., Salisbury;

- Haley Marie Ridenhour, 17,  First St., Spencer.

Police identified Sisco as the student who had the T-shirts printed and distributed or sold them.

In addition to the release of 400 to 500 crickets, students unbolted a large wrought iron sculpture, "Tree of Knowledge" from the front of the school and laid it down in the principal's parking space.

That was the first tip to staff and Spencer Police Officer Tony Hinson that the senior prank had been carried out.

The sculpture was returned to its proper place before students arrived.

The crickets were an ongoing problem throughout the day Monday.

Efforts to glue doors to keep them from opening failed.

"Gorilla Glue is great stuff. It doesn't like stainless steel," Bennett said. The glue dripped off the door handles onto the floor and paint.

Bennett said the damage from the glue was estimated at $200.

And the cost of exterminating the crickets was another $200.

By Monday, students had come forward and the identity of the participants was known.

Bennett said pranks over the past few years have involved banners and things outside the school.

The problem with this prank was going inside the school around 1 a.m. Sunday morning.

Had the break-in been discovered, Bennett said they would have called for backup from the Rowan County Sheriff's Office and other agencies to surround the school.

"If we are searching the building at 1 a.m., officers go in with their guns drawn. It makes for a very dangerous situation," Bennett said.

An issue still unresolved is how the students got a set of keys that will apparently open most doors in the school.

Bennett said those involved say the keys have been passed down for years from one senior class to another.

The chief also cited an adage about the difference between a prank and a crime. "It's a great prank if you don't get caught. It's a crime if you get caught."

The students are scheduled to appear in Rowan County District Court on Dec. 17.