Dead Animal Prank Leads to 6 More Arrests

Six more high school students were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of nailing animal carcasses to trees on campus and using a blood-colored dye for graffiti in a grisly prank to mark the end of the school year.

The Troy High School students, who used dead animals taken from a Yorba Linda veterinarian’s office, will face misdemeanor trespassing and vandalism charges, Fullerton Police Sgt. Glenn Deveny said.

“The prank was meant to gross people out, and it worked,” Deveny said.

On Tuesday, janitors at Troy High discovered a puppy, a cat and a decapitated kitten nailed to trees and a gutted opossum floating in the campus swimming pool, police said. The entrails of a snake were spread across the grounds, and graffiti including “Slayer ‘96” were written in dye on a wall.

The students arrested Wednesday were twins Jeffrey and Nathanial Hall of Yorba Linda, Ijaz Hakim of Fullerton, Ryan Murdock of Yorba Linda, Ian Ritchie of Buena Park and Ryan Ward of Fullerton. All are 18.

The seventh suspect, a 17-year-old whose name was withheld because he is a minor, was arrested Tuesday. All seven were released into the custody of their parents. One other student was briefly detained but will not face charges, Deveny said.

Deveny said the 17-year-old took the carcasses from an unlocked outdoor freezer used by a Yorba Linda veterinary clinic to store animal remains awaiting disposal.

There is no law against mutilating a dead animal, and because the youths did not kill the animals, they sidestepped felony animal cruelty charges, police said.

The juniors and seniors involved have been suspended and are awaiting further notification of disciplinary action, the sergeant said. The seniors will be excluded from graduation activities, officials said.