‘Fart spray’ prank leads to evacuated school and felony charges for two Texas teens

In a prime example of not considering the consequences, two teen boys in Texas allegedly decided to do a prank with “fart spray” that resulted in the high school being evacuated and felony charges being filed against them after students were sickened by the incident earlier in May.

The foul-smelling prank took place at Caney Creek High School, which is 45 miles north of Houston, approximately three weeks ago.

David Navarrete-Arce, 17, and Diego Flores, 18, were arrested following an investigation by police. They were both charged with possession of a prohibited weapon, which is a third-degree felony punishable by two to 10 years in prison. Probation is also an option for people convicted of a third-degree felony, according to The Courier of Montgomery County.

The arrest warrants said the actions and substance were capable of causing adverse psychological and physiological effects on a human being.

The boys were both released on $3,000 bond.

A strong gas-like odor was reported at the high school on May 3. It prompted firefighters to evacuate the entire school. Classes were in session the next day, but around noon the school was once again evacuated because the stench had returned. The school remained closed until May 5 when the retch-inducing smell finally dissipated.

Six students wound up being hospitalized due to nausea and headaches, according to school officials. At least eight others also reported feeling ill due to the incident.

HAZMAT crews swarmed the school for three days using gas detection equipment to determine the source of the smell but found nothing that appeared to be the source of it.

One of the boys allegedly confessed to the Carney Creek Fire & Rescue that he brought “a highly concentrated prank, stink spray called Hensgaukt Fart Spray” to the school and unleashed it.

The spray is advertised online as a gag toy that “creates a smell like real poo and fake vomit.”

Police reviewed security footage and saw Navarrete-Arce walking with students around him who were seen “recoiling and covering their noses and mouths,” according to an arrest affidavit.

“The video showed Navarrete-Arce appear to drop and pick up an item and shows the item in his hand appeared to be a small spray can,” the document contends.

The teen allegedly confessed to spraying the chemical in several parts of the school and then handing it to another student, whom he refused to name when interviewed by the police.

Navarrete-Arce allegedly claimed that Flores had a can of the same spray, which was confiscated by a teacher when the school was evacuated the first time around.

Officers retrieved the can from the teacher who confiscated it and determined its contents meet the definition of a chemical dispensing device as defined by state law.

“Through the investigative work of the Conroe ISD Police Department and campus administration, we believe that the odor was introduced by a student(s) using a highly concentrated prank stink spray called Hensgaukt Fart Spray,” Principal Jeff Stichler said in a statement that was released to parents on May 5, according to The Courier of Montgomery County.

Caney Creek Fire Department Chief Ray Flannely said Caney Creek, Conroe, and the Woodlands Fire Department along with officials with the Montgomery County Fire Marshal’s Office, the Montgomery County Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, the East Montgomery County Fire Department, the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and CISD Police Department responded to the incident.

“The crime doesn’t really fit the punishment under these circumstances,” legal analyst Steve Shellist said according to ABC 13.

Shellist stated that under the definition of the law, “fart spray” can technically be considered a prohibited weapon, but he is concerned the language is too broad.

“Good lawyers on a case like this – if the DA’s office pushed – might need to challenge the constitutionality of the law or what we call the overbreadth of the law. It’s too broad. It cast too large of a net,” he asserted. “If I took blue cheese, which I think has a noxious smell, and I put it in a device of some sort that can, and people have an adverse physiological reaction, suddenly I’m guilty of a felony of the third degree, and surely that can’t be the intent.”

Attorney Wendy Baker, who represents Flores, claims her client was “overcharged.”

“I am completely offended that this young man has been charged with a third-degree felony and if the State of Texas doesn’t come to their senses soon then we look forward to defending this case in a jury trial of Montgomery County citizens,” Baker threatened in an email, according to NBC News.

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