The arrests come days after two videos taken by different people inside the Astrodome began circulating on social media.
"He was so apologetic, embarrassed, he called himself an idiot. Dumb, he knew it was dumb," Tracey Timpanaro said of her 18-year-old son, Jack McGowan.
McGowan was charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass Tuesday alongside 18-year-olds Conner Carson and Michael Gorman.
Harris County Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen said security spotted the teens at the Astrodome, which has been closed since 2009, shortly after midnight.
"We immediately responded and were able to locate them inside taking some pictures," Rosen said.
But Timpanaro said her son told her he and his friends never made it inside the Astrodome.
"They did not get in. They didn't try to break in. They just wanted to see if they could've gotten in, and they were there for 10 minutes, and the cops showed up," she said.
After that, she said the teens managed to hide from security on the grounds of the Astrodome for several hours.
The constable's office says they were eventually spotted running across a parking lot and jumping a fence and taken into custody.
Rosen advised against unauthorized tours of vacant buildings and instead urged would-be explorers to seek permission.
"There could be some disrepair that's in there, there could be broken glass, there could be water, you could get hurt," he said.
Some so-called urban explorers disagree. One man, who wished to remain anonymous but posts under the handle @urbex.tx, said the Astrodome didn't feel any more dangerous than other buildings he's entered.
A video he posted from inside the Astrodome over the weekend has already garnered hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok. He said he was inspired by a video posted the previous day by a different person.
"I saw that someone had gotten in, so I was just like, 'Hey, like, it's now or never to see,'" he said.
Eyewitness News asked Rosen if any of the people posting videos from inside the Astrodome should worry about the possibility of criminal charges.
"No," he replied. "We're not opening up investigations on people in there."
But three teens are now facing charges, which they'll have to answer to in court.
"People are making really rude comments on social media, and that's just not fair because they're such good kids, they really are," Timpanaro said. "They work hard, they've never been in trouble before they volunteer in the community."
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