BREA : Reward Posted in Theft at High School
The principal of Brea Olinda High School announced a $500 reward Friday for the name of the person who took a box containing about $4,800 from the textbook room.
The box disappeared between 12:15 and 12:30 p.m. Thursday when the textbook clerk, Dorothy Rosendale, left it unattended to shelve some books.
The box contained hundreds of cards with $20 bills stapled to them. The money belonged to students who deposited $20 for every textbook they used for summer school classes. Students began coming to the textbook room to get their deposits back on Thursday, the day before the last day of summer school, Rosendale said.
Those who did not get their money because of the theft will receive their deposits back in the mail.
Rosendale said she left the box, which is normally kept in a vault, on a counter after returning a deposit about 12:15 p.m. She then began putting books on a shelf when, about 15 minutes later, a student called out, asking for her deposit.
When Rosendale returned to the counter, only the box lid was there, she said.
Police Sgt. Rueben Hernandez said the case is being investigated as a grand theft felony.
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