Charges dropped against teen in Grapevine case

FORT WORTH -- A burglary charge has been dismissed against a former Grapevine High School student accused of breaking into the school with six other classmates in the spring of 2007 and causing $40,000 damage, according to Tarrant County criminal court records on Tuesday.

But Drake Alexander Lenham, 19, of Colleyville, was placed in the Tarrant County district attorney’s Deferred Prosecution Program on Friday after the charge was dismissed, a prosecutor said Tuesday. Under the program, criminal cases are dropped before going to court, with the young adults going on an informal probation.

Lenham must stay in the program for a year, according to records.

The remaining teen accused in the vandalism, Charles Ray Ward, 19, of Colleyville, has a trial scheduled for July 21 in Fort Worth.

Three other former classmates were sentenced to probation and two others had their charges dropped like Lenham and placed on Deferred Prosecution Program.

The break-in: Vandals entered the school about 1 a.m. on March 7, 2007 through an auto shop door they had pried open. They poured paint on the shop floor and spray-painted the room, police said. Then, they went through hallways, using paintball guns and BB guns to damage interior surveillance cameras, trophy cases, door windows, walls and display cases, according to police reports. A pipe wrench was used to smash large windows at the main office, police said.

Based on tips from other students, police identified suspects a few days later.