A group of five teenage boys trespassed on Oak Park High School campus and took the school golf carts for a joyride on the nights of Aug. 6 and Aug.7

The incident occurred around 11 p.m. – 12 a.m. on the first night and 9 p.m. – 10 p.m. on the second.

According to Assistant Principal Jason Meskis, the intruders did not cause any damage.

“They wandered around campus, hopped the fence, and got one of those carts started. [The golf cart parking area] is gated, you can’t get it out, so they drove back and forth a few times,” Meskis said.

The intruders left shortly after realizing they couldn’t get the gold carts past the gates. Before leaving the campus, however, one of the intruders defecated on a table.

The next night, the group returned.

This time, they succeeded in getting a cart out of the parking area.

“[The intruders] snagged a cart that’s parked outside one of the classrooms with our custodians inside cleaning,” Meskis said. “It looked like they were heading off campus before they were confronted by Moe and Jose, school campus custodians.”

The custodians took a photo of the license plate of the group’s car. Security cameras were able to capture high-quality footage which identified the intruders as recent graduates of Agoura High School.

“We found out [their identities] two ways. One of the kids was wearing a pair of Agoura High School shorts and we had some very clear images of them from the cameras and we sent the footage to the people at Agoura. They recognized a couple of the kids,” Buchanan said.

Although the perpetrators are all legally adults, and could be charged with trespassing and joyriding, Principal Kevin Buchanan and Meskis decided not to press charges after a meeting with the boys and their parents.

“These boys are 18, and they’re all headed off to college. Having a misdemeanor charge on your record when you’re 18 stays with you for life. We felt that that would a tough way to start out your adult life so we tried to look for other ways to make restitution. They were all extremely remorseful and apologetic and appreciative,” Buchanan said.

The families of the teenage boys have promised to donate to one of the Associated Student Body clubs and contribute to the school. While the teenagers won’t be facing charges, they will be still be held accountable for their actions and face disciplinary actions. Buchanan went with the group to volunteer at a feed-the-homeless program run by Buchanan’s wife, Socorro, at the Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Thousand Oaks.

“They’re going to some community service,” Buchanan said. “Tonight [Aug. 26] we’re going to feed the homeless. I called them all and they all agreed that rather than face potential misdemeanor charges, they would be appreciative if they were to come and help us feed the homeless tonight in Thousand Oaks.”