Ghosts Caught in Burglary at Fairfield Warde High

It wasn't a typical burglary for Fairfield police on a couple of counts.

Not only were students breaking into a school, they were wearing white sheets from head to toe, believing the sheets would prevent motion detectors in Fairfield Warde High School from alerting police to their presence. To top it off, the students weren't in search of money or anything of value - they wanted to play badminton in the school's gymnasium.

Police Sgt. James Perez, a department spokesman, said the students - two 17-year-olds, a 14-year-old and a 12-year-old, all from Fairfield - thought, based on an episode of "MythBusters" that airs on the Discovery Channel, that the white sheets would prevent the school's surveillance system from detecting their presence.

"The officer found four males with white sheets from head to toe, running down a hallway near the gymnasium," Perez said. "When we catch them, we found they were carrying badminton rackets. They said they were going to school to play badminton."

"These kids really believed if they put the sheets on and walked down the hallway, they wouldn't trigger the alarm and could go play badminton," Perez said.

Perez said the 12-year-old climbed through an unlocked window near the school's courtyard and then unlocked a door so the other three could get into the school.

Perez said police contacted parents of the four students, who all came to the school. "Ultimately, all were warned and turned over to their parents," Perez said.

The identities of the students weren't released by police because they are considered juveniles under state law. One of the 17-year-olds and the 14-year-old attend school at Warde High; the other 17-year-old and the 12-year-old are Fairfield residents, Perez said.

A janitor was called to the school to secure the unlocked window, police said.

Perez said the burglary happened about 2:19 p.m. Friday when school was closed in observance of Good Friday.

James Coyne, Warde High's headmaster, said school officials were notified of the incident this morning and were looking into it. "They're investigating it, looking into it to see who was involved and what happened," Coyne said of deans at the school, who are responsible for disciplinary action.