School Visit Turns Into Petty Theft

A petty thief went to extraordinary lengths to steal a private school administrator’s wallet this week by posing as a parent interested in enrolling her child, police reported.

The woman visited Kiddies Castle, a Montessori school on Garden Grove Boulevard, and requested a tour from Director Shirani Senanayake.

Afterward, the woman asked to review a brochure on teaching methods, and Senanayake allowed her to sit in her office while she checked on matters in a classroom.

“She was really well-spoken,” Senanayake said.

Then, Senanayake heard a commotion and found the supposed parent arguing with a teacher. The teacher alleged the woman had gone through her purse. Angered, the suspect stormed off campus.

Senanayake returned to her office, looked in her own purse and discovered that the woman “wiped out my wallet, my credit card, Social Security card, my driver’s license--everything.”

A teacher got a partial license plate number as the woman sped off in a van and reported the crime to police.

Sgt. Dwight Moore said it’s possible the woman really did want to consider enrolling her foster child in the program and spotted another opportunity.

“She may have just seen this open purse and put her hand in the cookie jar,” he said. Or “she may not have even been looking for a school, and it was just a ruse.”

The suspect is still at large. She was described as a 34-year-old Latina, 5 feet 3, 180 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. She wore denim shorts and a beige sleeveless T-shirt.