PUTNAM COUNTY, Ind. -- Four Wabash College students are accused of trying to steal the prized Monon Bell out of a locked building on the campus of DePauw University in Greencastle.
Each year, the bell goes to the winner of a football game between Wabash and DePauw, and for years students have stolen it as a college prank.
Prosecutors say four Wabash students tried to take the bell from the Lilly Center at DePauw over fall break.
They were caught on video trying to remove the bell from a pedestal where it was bolted down.
"The police believe they had been there a week ahead of time and had sized up what they believe, what sized ratchet they needed to get the bolts off," said Tim Bookwalter, Putnam Co. Prosecutor.
Bookwalter says three of the students hid behind the bleachers inside the Lilly Center for six hours while it was closed.
"They did a lot of planning. Took a lot of effort. Uniforms, latex gloves. Obama and Trump masks," said Bookwalter.
Investigators say what the students didn't realize was there is a sensor under the bell that alerted campus police.
They were taken quickly into custody by a DePauw police officer who had also spotted the fourth Wabash student waiting outside in a pickup truck.
"What makes a rivalry great, it's back stories and this is a back story that people will talk about for a long time," said Ken Owen, DePauw University spokesman.
"Both teams just really want it, so whether it's on the field or as we see off the field to get the bell," said Jake Hagan, DePauw student.
DePauw police made the Wabash students put the bell back. They're charged with trespassing.
The prosecutor said he decided on misdemeanor charges for the students because he heard they would be suspended if charged with a felony.
He says he'll keep it off their record if they help cleanup after the Monon Bell game between DePauw and Wabash on November 11.
The students have been identified as Aaron Scott of Roanoke, Mason Owen Simmons of Fort Wayne, Brendan McCoy of Indianapolis, and Schuyler Nehrig of Greenfield.
Nehrig is a kicker on the Wabash football team. Wabash says he was suspended for at least one game as a result.
MORE TOP STORIES | Video: Race car drivers fight after crash at Anderson speedway | Woman killed in luxury apartment complex along Indianapolis canal was stabbed, coroner says | Several sex traffickers arrested in Indiana during nationwide FBI operation, dozens of kids saved | Suspect in double murder of women found shot in burned car captured in Hammond, Indiana | Home tour: New build in Bates Hendricks
Top Trending Videos
