CALIFORNIA COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM SCHOOL San Pedro charter school's new campus is a little too open Thieves make off with $25,000 worth of computer equipment and vandalize rooms at Port of Los Angeles High School.
By Andrea Sudano Daily Breeze

Talk about a warm welcome.

Barely a week after moving into their new digs, Port of Los Angeles High School students and staff returned from a holiday weekend to discover about a dozen computers and other equipment stolen, officials said Tuesday.

About $25,000 worth of computers, monitors and telephones were missing from a storage room, where they were awaiting installation, said Jim Cross, executive director of the San Pedro campus.

"We had a little (burglary) this weekend," he said. "Whoever it was also went into all the classrooms and rifled desks, and pried the desks and cabinets open. They took some minor things like pencils and board games -- just small stuff. We've only been in there a week. There's not much accumulated."

Port Police Lt. Bill Fletcher said the burglary was still under investigation, but doors and windows to the building as well as interior classroom doors showed no signs of forced entry.

"They didn't kick in the doors or come from the outside," Cross said. "The building is open to a lot of people besides the students."

Pupils moved into the bottom floor of a renovated building last week, but Cross said construction was still under way at the facility at 250 W. Fifth St.

Construction workers were still working on the building as late as Monday, when school was out of session for the federal holiday, he said.

Police would not say that the heist was an inside job, but Cross said the building's alarm system was disarmed to accommodate the workers.

While Cross called it a "fluke," the costly break-in has left students -- so excited to move into their new school a week ago -- devastated and without computers.

"We're kind of worried because that was our whole computer lab," said Ilse Gonzalez, 14. "They were going to install it this week or next week. ... Now it's been delayed and that sort of sucks."

Rumors about the break-in swirled around the small student body Monday.

"(Police) were walking around, talking to teachers and stuff," said Ariel Hawkins. "We just got mad. It's our computers."

Cross said the school would worry about insurance money later, and would instead focus on getting students computers. The school had been in contact with the computer manufacturer, which promised to expedite the delivery of new machines. "We'll be up and running soon," he said. "We're going to order it now and worry about who pays later."

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn planned to encourage the Port of Los Angeles to cover the costs of changing the building's locks.

"It's awful," she said. "I was very upset and shocked that anyone would vandalize a brand new charter school, take their computers and vandalize their desks. ... It's clear nothing is going to be easy for this charter high school."

Staff and students moved into the former Evergreen America Corp. offices last week after a two-month delay. Since September, students had been attending classes at the Cabrillo Beach Youth Camp.

Last week students marveled at the new school's fresh paint, wide halls and clean bathrooms. On Tuesday, they watched police dust for fingerprints.

"We're all excited about the new school and then this happens," Hawkins said. "It's kind of annoying."