Thieves Again Target School for Disabled : Crime: For the second time in four months vandals smash windows with wheelchairs and steal computer equipment.

Vandals broke into a school for poor, severely disabled children and used students’ wheelchairs to smash windows and vending machines, stole a fax machine and computer equipment and left behind a trail of wreckage and human feces.

It was the second time in four months that thieves had broken into the Lowman Special Education Center, stole valuable computer and communications equipment used by the disabled children, and defecated on the property.

Although the monetary loss of both burglaries was estimated at more than $6,000, the emotional toll on teachers, parents and neighbors was even greater, administrators said.

“This really kills us,” Principal Helen Hartel said.

“The school is responsible for replacing everything, so this comes right out of the kids’ instructional budget. It’s not cheap.

“You would think human decency would keep people from taking advantage of those who can’t fend for themselves,” she added. Thankfully, Hartel said, the students don’t have the mental ability to understand the meaning of the acts.

The special public school serves 275 severely handicapped children and young adults, ages 4 to 22, most of whom live in the northeast San Fernando Valley. About half of the children come from families with incomes that fall below the federal poverty line.

Los Angeles Unified School District police on Wednesday said they were investigating the crime, which occurred between 11 p.m. Monday and 6 a.m. Tuesday.

School administrators said the break-in followed the same pattern as one in July, when thieves entered by smashing a window and used wheelchairs to batter open soda and candy vending machines. At that time, the thieves made off with about $200 worth of coins from the vending machines, in addition to expensive computer and telephone equipment and a walkie-talkie.

They also smeared human feces on a wall.

This time, thieves broke in through another window. And though they smashed open the candy and soda machines, they were not able to break into the coin boxes inside. But they did manage to get into the main office by smashing through a window with a wheelchair. They then pried a computer out of its anchor pad and stole the fax machine, and left feces in the playground outside.

The vending machines were given to the school and are stocked at a discount by a couple who have a disabled child, Hartel said. The money put into the machines buys extras for the students, including electronic adapters to modify toys so disabled children can play with them, Hartel said.

Frank Burns, a member of the Kiwanis Club of Northridge, which supports Lowman with weekly donations of bread and eggs, said he was disgusted when he learned of the second burglary.

“Barbarians,” he said. “That’s the only word I can think of. Who would steal from kids like these?”