A College Kid Crawled Through His Teacher’s Air Duct to Steal a Stats Exam

Early Wednesday morning, after the streets of Lexington, Kentucky, grew empty and most of the city had gone to sleep, Henry Lynch II began his heist.

The University of Kentucky junior allegedly snuck into the campus science building sometime around midnight, the Lexington Herald-Leader reports. He somehow managed to wedge himself into the five-story structure’s air ducts and expertly weave his way through the labyrinthine passage. Soon, he arrived above his professor’s office on the third floor and dropped down from the ceiling, crept to the door, unlocked it, and allegedly let in his backup—sophomore Troy Kiphuth.

With phase one complete, all they had to do now was find their statistics exam and get out. But at about 1:30 AM, their professor, John Cain, arrived at the door. He was apparently working late that night, and he’d left his office at about midnight to grab a bite to eat. Now, he was back—only he couldn’t seem to get inside.

Cain figured something evil was afoot, school spokesman Jay Blanton told the Leader, and shouted that he was calling the cops. Just then, the door swung open, and the two young men reportedly sprinted past him down the hallway and out of the building.

After the police arrived, Lynch trudged back to the office and fessed up to his crime. He explained that he’d snuck in through the building’s air ducts, and—though it’s still unclear exactly how he managed to do so—it wasn’t his first time. He said he pulled the same stunt earlier in the semester, stealing a separate exam from Cain’s office weeks ago—which, for what it’s worth, he swore he didn’t share with other students.

The cops cited Lynch and Kiphuth with a third-degree felony burglary charge, which means they’ll be dealing with the Fayette County court system. But some of the pair’s fellow classmates seemed to have a different punishment in mind.

“A felony? Aw, I think he should just have to take the exam like three times or a much harder exam,” Mike Fritz, a University of Kentucky student, told CBS affiliate WKYT.

According to Blanton, the university plans to investigate how and why the students mounted their heist—which, as impressive as it sounds—was probably less like Mission: Impossible and a lot more like Jackass.

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