RAPID CITY - Three Rapid City Central High School students were arrested in the case of Tuesday's arson fire at the school after one was identified through surveillance video.

Subsequent interrogations led to the arrest of the two other students.

The three, all 18 and of Rapid City, are Jesse Antes, McKenzie Koenen and Gabriel Rensch, who was an honor-roll student and was scheduled to graduate Sunday with high honor. Rensch was also a recipient of the President's Award for Academic Excellence.

They were charged with reckless burning, which is a class 4 felony and carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine upon conviction.

Tuesday's fire caused the evacuation and early dismissal of nearly 2,000 students at Central High School.

All other schools in the district were placed under "secure status," and students were unable to leave the buildings.

Lt. David Walton of the Rapid City Police Department said investigators were led to the students through video surveillance cameras in the school.

"We were able to identify at least one of them by the video," he said.

The other suspects were found through interviews with students.

"You talk to people, and you get names, and all of a sudden, you get the right answers," Walton said. "It (the video) led us right down the road, and once we confronted these guys, they

finally gave it up."

Walton said two of the arrests were made that evening.

"They (the investigators) did a lot of work clear up until after midnight. There were things that were going on, things that were falling into place," he said.

Walton said one student was arrested at work, one at home, and the final arrest was made Thursday morning. None of the arrests were made at Central High School.

"There were other things we were planning, but because it was late at night, we decided to wait until the next morning," he said of Thursday's arrest.

Walton would not reveal the components of the incendiary device, but he said it was homemade and contained no illegal components.

Antes, Koenen and Rensch made their initial appearance before 7th Circuit Magistrate Judge Michael O'Connor on Thursday afternoon. O'Connor set their bond on personal recognizance, and they were released Thursday afternoon.

Under stipulations of the bond, the three students are to have pre-trial supervision with court services, are prohibited from leaving Pennington County and are not allowed to be on Rapid City school property without express permission from the district.

Pennington County State's Attorney Glenn Brenner said that, because of the seriousness of Tuesday's incident, bond should have been set at $200,000 to $250,000.

"It would be hard to find a member of the community that was not affected by this incident," he said.

Brenner said he worried that one or all of the three students could possibly cause a disturbance at Sunday's graduation ceremonies.

Contact Justin Wolfgang at 394-8417 or justin.wolfgang@rapidcityjournal.com.