Three Santaluces High School seniors went to jail March 16 after they admitted to arson and vandalism at a house in Nautica Sound, said Stephanie Slater, Boynton Beach Police spokeswoman.
Matthew Press, 18, of Boynton Beach; Gary Lee Harper Jr., 19, of Lantana; and Patrick Machen, 18, of Lake Worth are charged with burglary, felony vandalism and residential arson.
Slater said the damage is estimated at $50,000.
At 2:45 p.m., police received a call of a possible residential fire in the 7100 block of Chesapeake Circle in Nautica Sound.
The house was believed to be empty and the fire was found behind the house in an in-ground pool.
The interior of the house was vandalized with spray painting on the walls, holes in the walls, smashed chairs and furniture, a broken TV and pool chemicals spilled throughout the house.
Harper told police that they skipped out of school early Monday and went Press's house in the 7100 block of Chesapeake Circle in Nautica Sound.
Press lives next door to the house they vandalized.
Harper said they were bored so they went next door and vandalized the empty house.
Machen said he defecated in the residence because he had to go to the bathroom and didn't feel like walking back to Press's house.
In addition, the threesome said they kicked holes in the walls, smashed furniture and broke a TV before throwing other things from the house into the empty pool and starting a fire.
Slater said they then went back to Press's house and played video games until they saw the fire growing and attempted to spray a garden hose from his backyard over the fence.
The three filmed the damage with a camera phone, which is now evidence.
Mike Rothman can be reached at mkrothman@tribune.com.