3 teens accused of vandalizing Wheatley Middle School to remain behind bars

Suspects are 13, 15 , 16 years old

SAN ANTONIO – Three teens accused of causing thousands of dollars in damage to Wheatley Middle School will remain in the Bexar County Juvenile Detention Center for at least a few more weeks.

The boys — ages 13, 15, and 16 — stood before Associate Judge Irma Hernandez Wednesday morning during a juvenile detention hearing.

She told them that a burglary charge already had been filed against each of them.

"I'm also going to establish probable cause for the offense of criminal mischief, $1,500 to $20,000," Hernandez said.

The charges stem from a destructive rampage at Wheatley Middle School early Tuesday morning.

Police with the San Antonio Independent School District said they responded to a ringing burglar alarm around 1 a.m. at the building, located in the 400 block of Gabriel Street.

They said they saw several suspects running from the scene, and noticed more than two dozen windows that had been smashed.

Additionally, police said someone also had entered a classroom and overturned furniture in the room.

By afternoon, they had arrested the three teens, at least two of whom are students at the school, according to SAISD spokeswoman Leslie Price.

In the court hearing, it was revealed that two of them -- the 13- and 15-year-old -- are brothers.

One by one, Hernandez told all three that she fears they're at risk of getting into trouble again.

"It appears to me that you're not allowing yourself to be adequately supervised while living at home in the community," she said. "I am going to detain you."

The teens were ordered to remain in custody, at least until their next hearing on July 17.

Hernandez said the youngest boy, the 13-year-old, also has other criminal mischief charges pending from an arrest in February.

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About the Author:

Katrina Webber joined KSAT 12 in December 2009. She reports for Good Morning San Antonio. Katrina was born and raised in Queens, NY, but after living in Gulf Coast states for the past decade, she feels right at home in Texas. It's not unusual to find her singing karaoke or leading a song with her church choir when she's not on-air.