HOUSTON -- Surveillance cameras at a northwest Houston high school helped police catch four teenagers accused of breaking into a football team's locker room while the team was at a game, KPRC Local 2 reported Friday.
It happened at
Cesar E. Chavez High School, located at 8501 Howard, while the team was playing Westside High.
But the celebration of defeating their rivals for the first time in the Lobo's history turned into shock when they returned to the school.
"Everything was destroyed. Everyone was on the floor -- our clothes," football player Jamaal Johnson said.
Johnson said the locker room was a complete mess.
"I lost my car, my phone, my shoes, my backpack. They stole my socks. They even stole my boxers," he said.
Police found Johnson's car within hours, along with four suspects.
The teenagers were caught on the school's high-tech surveillance camera walking into the boy's locker room.
"All of them are in custody. The investigation continues. We recovered some property," said Charles Wiley, HISD's police chief.
Wiley said all four detained students attend the Contemporary Learning Center. One is an unidentified juvenile while the other three are 17 years old -- Manuel Traylor, Darren Johnson and Dominic Vandible.
Officials said until a few weeks ago, two of the suspects were on the Chavez football team. One was kicked off after being accused of stealing a cell phone from a teammate and the other one quit.
Terry Abbott, Press Secretary with the Houston Independent School District, released the following statement.
"School officials and HISD Police moved very quickly last night to investigate the case. The incident shows again the importance of high-quality video surveillance systems at schools. The passage of the bond issue on Tuesday will allow us to have those kinds of camera systems at every school in HISD."
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