Texas Teens Attempt Real-Life 'Project X'

	Lauren Cangelosi
	Conner Bennet
	Colten Camden

Parnia Behinaein	Michael Alcala	William Childress
James Arnold	Evan Dillard	Brock Johnson

Casey Smith

Houston, Texas

I guess I have been under a rock or something, but until a few days ago, I did not know anything about the new movie (except that it was a new movie) “Project X.” For those of you in the same boat, the movie is about a high school party that gets out of control. By the way, it is from the creators of “The Hangover.” Apparently, it is quite popular among high school students. In fact, Houston Police say the idea is so popular, a group of students attempted to create a real-life version and were actually successful. That was, until they got caught.

According to investigators, the teens were caught after another home in the neighborhood was trashed the night before. The home was a newly-built, vacant property. In that incident, a group of partygoers apparently broke in, threw a wild bash and caused nearly $100,000 in damage.

A private investigator hired by the builder thought the vandals might strike again, so he staked out the neighborhood the following night.

That’s when he allegedly caught the group of teens in another house, just kicking off their party.

In all, 13 teenagers were caught. Two juveniles were sent home with their parents. The remaining 11 – identified as Colten Camden, Lauren Cangelosi, Evan Dillard, Parnia Behinaein, Jack Middleton, Conner Bennet, Casey Smith, Michael Alcala, Brock Johnson, William Childress and James Arnold – were charged with criminal trespass.

Police said they were working to determine Wednesday if those teens were the same ones responsible for damaging the home on March 8.

If so, more serious criminal charges could be filed.

"When you look at the movie, and you look at what happened here, the parallels are the uncanny. It was a copycat. They did everything that I saw in the movie," Mark Stephens, the private investigator hired by the homebuilder, said.

Anyone with information on either case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-8477. Tipsters can also contact Stephens at 281-351-5342.