Three Summit Academy students Thursday acknowledged they escaped the reform school in Summit Township last month in a stolen car belonging to a teacher.

The youths' admissions were made during a juvenile court hearing before Butler County Judge Timothy McCune.

It will be at least another week before they learn their punishments.

State police accused one of the suspects — a 16-year-old Philadelphia boy — of removing the vehicle keys from the teacher's pocket July 27.

He and the other two students — a 15-year-old Delaware County boy and a 16-year-old state of Delaware boy — then ran out of the facility on Herman Road.

The Butler Eagle is not identifying the boys because of their ages.

The three teens, who knew which car the teacher drove, found the vehicle and drove away, authorities said.

The Philadelphia boy, who was driving, eventually crashed on Route 28 south near Exit 15, in Harrison Township, Allegheny County. The car rolled over three times but no one was injured.

The boys fled but Harrison Township police caught one of them soon after the crash.

A state police helicopter and search dogs were used to look for the other two suspects. They were caught several hours later near Ridge Road in Fawn Township, Allegheny County.

Police filed a list of charges against the teens, who were placed in the Jefferson County Juvenile Detention Center in Steubenville, Ohio.

Each boy appeared in court Thursday for his pre-adjudication conference, which is similar to a status conference in adult court.

They had the option to fight the charges at a later adjudication hearing, the equivalent of a trial in adult court, or admit to charges — similar to a guilty plea.

Juvenile court proceedings are typically closed to the public, but the suspects' cases fell under an exception since at least one of their crimes would have been graded as a felony in adult court.

The Philadelphia boy admitted to felony theft and misdemeanor escape and reckless endangerment. He was represented by public defender Ryan Helsel.

In exchange, Russ Karl, a Butler County assistant district attorney, said he was withdrawing felony charges of robbery and fleeing or attempting to elude police, and misdemeanor charges of unauthorized use of a vehicle and disorderly conduct.

The others boys both admitted to a felony charge of conspiracy to commit theft and misdemeanor escape. Karl in those cases agreed to withdraw a list of conspiracy charges against them.

Court-appointed attorneys Patrick Casey and Jeffrey Thompson represented the other 16 year old and the 15-year-old, respectively.

McCune accepted the admissions.

The two Pennsylvania boys are now waiting to be taken back to their home counties for disposition, which is like sentencing in adult court.

The out-of-state boy's disposition hearing is set for Thursday in county juvenile court. Afterward, he will be returned to Delaware.

All three boys in the meantime will remain at the Ohio detention facility.