CALIFORNIA COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM SCHOOLSouth High students arrested in school burglarySouth High students arrested in school burglary
Computer theft at Richardson Middle School in Torrance is one of several such incidents on campuses in recent weeks.
By Larry Altman
Daily Breeze

Three South High School students clad in black masks and rubber gloves were arrested early Monday breaking into a Torrance middle school, where they had snatched computers to pile into their car.

Police found 23 pieces of stolen property, including computers, keyboards and DVD equipment stacked outside a Richardson Middle School classroom. The teens had a car parked nearby, Torrance police Lt. Brad Wilson said.

"They also found, in one of their backpacks, five spray cans," Wilson said. "They didn't get the opportunity to do anything with those."

Police officers found the boys, two 16 years old and another 15, when they responded to a burglar alarm at 3:05 a.m. at the campus at 23751 Nancy Lee Lane. An alarm detected motion in the school's technology room.
The teens tried to run when the police arrived, but officers cornered them and took them into custody.

"They snuck up on 'em real good, so they had nowhere to run," Wilson said.

The teens wore black sweatshirts with dark hoods, rags over their mouths and noses, and latex gloves.

They were arrested on suspicion of burglary and taken to Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey.

The arrests followed a burglary Friday at Seaside Elementary School in Torrance, where officers found a 14-year-old girl and three 13-year-old boys trying to break in to the YMCA child-care center on campus.

A neighbor in the 4600 block of Sharynne Lane heard a loud noise and called police about 7:45 p.m. Friday. The witness saw one of the teens kick open a vent on the bottom of the boys' bathroom and crawl through the opening.

The teens apparently used the restroom, then removed a screen to a classroom, Wilson said.

Officers found the group's bicycles lying on the ground and the four teens inside the school gates. The teens claimed they were riding their bikes around.

One boy admitted he was trying to get into the classroom because he was hungry and knew food was inside the YMCA room, Wilson said.

The teens were arrested on suspicion of burglary and released to their parents.

Torrance schools have been targets of repeated burglaries in recent weeks, but police do not believe any of the latest suspects were involved in them.

On June 8, someone broke into West High School and ransacked lockers overnight.

That same day, someone broke three light fixtures near the Yukon Elementary School cafeteria and tried to enter a classroom.

Over that weekend, burglars also took property from two Richardson classrooms.

And, on May 22, Torrance police arrested three West High School athletes when they were found on the Bert Lynn Middle School campus with a computer and other property stolen from at least three classrooms. The teens also scrawled a swastika and a racial slur against blacks on a classroom wall.

Police did not know if any of the teens arrested over the weekend were involved in the previous crimes.

Wilson said the crimes show that parents need to pay more attention to their children.

"Parents must know where their kids are all the time," Wilson said. "Three o'clock in the morning -- that's unbelievable."