Not getting off “Scott” free.
An Alabama police force playfully exacted revenge against a group of high schoolers who had covered their department headquarters — along with the rest of the town — with toilet paper as part of an elaborate senior prank.
Heflin Police Chief Ross McGlaughn vowed to get back on the Class of 2026 when the students launched their overnight TP attack across the small Alabama city.
The police department’s main building was dressed with rolls of toilet paper that covered the entrance, squad cars and the roof.
“It’s just fun,” the student leaders told CBS News on Friday. “Adrenaline rush. Then you don’t get caught and it’s like ‘this is fantastic.’”
Instead of arresting the underage pranksters, McGlaughn formed a special task force for an extravagant tactical operation in the small city 75 miles west of Atlanta, Georgia.
“Dear school kids of Cleburne County,” McGlaughn wrote on Facebook. “We think that rolling the police department was a little uncalled for, but as we enter into Halloween season, we don’t want to hear any crying when we load up like we are going to serve a search warrant and go full out tactical ninja style old school rolling at your place.”
McGlaughn warned the youngsters that they had messed with the wrong people because his department is made up of many personnel who grew up pulling the same pranks.
“We know who you are and while you just put the PlayStation controller down for a week, we are children of the 80s and 90s who perfected this craft years ago,” he said.
McGlaughn used his initial warning to deceive the kids about when the revenge attack would be carried out.
“This whole time the class of 26 expected retaliation on Halloween night and I let them believe that. I learned early in my career that in any tactical situation, 3 things must be accomplished for success; speed, surprise, and violence of action,” he wrote on Facebook after the “mission.”
The Haflin Police Department, with the help of community members and other law enforcement agencies, launched their revenge attack under the cover of darkness on Oct. 29.
“Old school rules were put into place. We would park down the road and approach the target on foot,” McGlaughn said, having his team sneak around so as not to set off any alarms or cameras.
“Most importantly, it was every man for themselves. Stragglers get left and have to make their way back on their own. It never fails that rule gets enacted in any rolling endeavor,” he said.
They targeted the homes of several students — with the permission of their parents.
Drone footage captured toilet paper rolls being flung over the houses and covering the trees with the white bathroom tissue.
Three houses were struck by the officers who attacked with “mongoose-like speed and military precision.”
“My group was kicking butt like a pack of ninjas! Toilet paper hung from the branch of every tree and bush. I was proud of my team. They had 100 percent, absolutely, lived up to every bit of the hype I had talked them in to,” McGlaughn said.
Overnight weather caused the masterpieces to quickly spoil, as social media mocked the officers’ attempt.
“By the next morning, the whiteout conditions we created were a soggy mess and just looked sad. We were mocked on social media for what appeared to be a feeble attempt, but what really only a select few know to be the Mona Lisa of rolling. I now know how the 1998 Atlanta Braves felt,” McGlaughn wrote.
The police boss said the main goal of his revenge was to have fun with the community, and didn’t see any harm in what the kids had done.
“As long as they’re doing this, they’re not getting in trouble doing something else,” McGlaughn told CBS News.
“I haven’t seen any type of drugs or alcohol involved, because I think they’re spending all their money on toilet paper,” he said with a laugh.
The students were glad the police department took part in their antics.
“I just think it’s good clean fun for everyone and it’s been great for the whole town, the police department and everybody,” one of the pupils said
“It brings a sense of community,” another offered.
To help clean up the mess, the clever high schoolers began selling TP insurance to community members and will mobilize the “Toilet Paper Rapid Response Team” to clean up the mess.
“If you buy their insurance and your yard gets rolled, the youth group will come clean it up for you,” McGlaughn said
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