Windows smashed, 39 iPad tablets stolen from Palm Crest Elementary
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is seeking information regarding a July 21 burglary at Palm Crest Elementary School, in which suspects smashed six classroom windows and stole 39 iPad tablets, estimated at $19,500, from one of the rooms.
Deputies responded to a vandalism call at the campus made by an employee the morning after the incident, according to a sheriff’s report. They learned someone had smashed large center windows, about 4 feet long and 3 feet high, in five classrooms on the northwest end of the campus, in addition to a smaller 2 feet by 4 feet window in a sixth room.
Maintenance workers had broken out the remaining glass to clear the area of broken glass, but reported most of the holes had been about 3 inches in diameter and appeared to have been made by a blunt object.
A significantly larger oval-shaped hole in Classroom 30, about 2 feet high and 3 feet wide, had been made in one of the classrooms, the worker told deputies. The employee did not know if any of the rooms had been entered, deputies noted in a report taken at the time of the incident.
A few hours later, Palm Crest Principal Karen Hurley called the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station to report that 39 iPad tablets, estimated at about $500 each, had been stolen from Classroom 30. Deputies returned to the campus to take notes on the scene.
Someone had removed the devices from a cabinet, and dangling white charging cords were found hanging where the iPads had been plugged in. Motion sensor-activated video surveillance cameras throughout the campus recorded portions of what had taken place.
From the footage, deputies saw a vehicle pulling into the school’s parking lot at approximately 1:26 a.m. Shortly after that, three males can be seen walking toward the campus. The first suspect wore a light-colored shirt and shorts. The second wore a light-colored shirt and pants, while the third was in a dark hooded sweatshirt and pants.
Classroom 30 was entered at 1:46 a.m., the report indicated, and one suspect was seen on camera climbing through the window and turning on the light inside before opening the door for the other suspects. At one point in the footage, a fourth suspect was seen waving around a flashlight.
Sgt. Hector Mancinas, a detective with the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station said Wednesday the department was investigating the burglary as an active case. The grainy quality of the film made further suspect identification difficult, he added.
“The footage wasn’t that great,” Mancinas said, adding that specific details, such as race, height or weight, could not be determined. “You could see blurry things, but you couldn’t tell who was walking.”
Hurley could be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.
Mark Evans, La Cañada Unified School District’s chief business and operations officer, said Wednesday that while the district provided the sheriff’s department with serial numbers for the stolen iPads, he wasn’t anticipating they would be found or recovered anytime soon.
“We carry property and liability insurance, so we’ll work with the insurance company to replace the devices,” he said, estimating the per-unit replacement value at $500.
It’s not likely the iPads will be replaced before the first day of school on Aug. 12, Evans added, but in the meantime, other devices on campus should allow for the continuity of technology-based instruction.
The school employee told deputies the iPads were not password protected.
Anyone who may be able to provide information on the suspects or the burglary is asked to call the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station at (818) 248-3464.
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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com
Twitter: @SaraCardine
