CHARLESTON COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM SCHOOL Charleston.Net Registration
2 students charged in Summerville High thefts
BY NITA BIRMINGHAM
Of The Post and Courier Staff
SUMMERVILLE--Police investigating an alarm and the theft of computer equipment from Summerville High School early Tuesday didn't know one of their suspects lives just across the street.

Information provided by students led school resource officer Cpl. Sandy Williams to arrest a Summerville High junior and a freshman Thursday.

Mathew Armstrong, 17, is charged with two counts each of grand larceny and second-degree burglary in a pair of break-ins at the school, Williams said. Police also arrested a 16-year-old boy on one count each of second-degree burglary, grand larceny and receiving stolen goods.

Summerville Municipal Judge John Loy released Armstrong on a $15,000 personal recognizance bond. Charges against the 16-year-old will be handled through Family Court.

The juvenile is suspected of participating in a Feb. 13 burglary of the school on Boone Hill Road, Williams said. Police said burglars went through an unlocked window about 3 a.m. and took two Gateway computer processing units from the computer labs.

The burglars activated an alarm, but police didn't find anyone at the school. The theft initially went unnoticed because keyboards and chairs were situated in a way that hid the fact the CPUs were gone, Williams said.

Officers who responded to another alarm at the school at 4 a.m. Tuesday found a broken window and discovered three IBM units had been stolen. The five pieces of computer equipment are worth between $600 and $800 each, Williams said.

The stolen computer equipment was found at the homes of two teenagers and turned over to police by the students' parents, Williams said. Some of the equipment had been dismantled.

"These are really smart kids," Williams said.

The students were suspended Thursday, Summerville High School Principal David Pugh said. They'll have hearings before the Dorchester District 2 Disciplinary Panel, and possible action ranges from reprimand to expulsion, Pugh said.