CALIFORNIA COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES Arden/Carmichael - Burglars hit area school, church - sacbee.com: "Burglars hit area school, church

Sheriff's captain suggests alarms, patrols and better lighting to prevent thefts.
By Bill Lindelof -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PST Thursday, March 9, 2006
Story appeared in Arden carmichael section, Page G1

Unoccupied buildings often are targets of burglars who enter and leave before anyone knows.

'A burglar, whether high on methamphetamine or sober, will see what is easy to take and will take it,' said Capt. Reuben Meeks, commander of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department's Marconi Station, North Central Division, serving Arden Arcade."

Burglars hit two prominent structures - a school in Carmichael and a church in Arden Arcade - on the same weekend.

Starr King Middle School's offices, 4848 Cottage Way in Carmichael, and St. Mark's United Methodist Church's sanctuary, 2391 St. Mark's Way in Arden Arcade, both were hit by burglars the last weekend in February.

Meeks recommended that nonprofits take measures to prevent theft such as using a good alarm system, hiring private security patrols, trimming bushes where burglars could hide and increasing lighting.

"And I will make my crime-prevention specialists available to any school, church or other nonprofit to make a security assessment of their grounds," Meeks said.
More damage than theft occurred at Starr King. Entry was made through an office window, Principal Ethan Hoff said.

"We think it was probably kids," he said. "They mostly just trashed the office, dumped out the desk drawers and kind of made a mess. They took some two-way radios, walkie-talkies. Not a whole lot of items were missing."

It appears that the burglars attempted to steal a computer. It was unplugged, and perhaps they were startled and fled, Hoff said.

"Last year, we were also hit," he said. "They made a huge mess in our office with spray paint and dumping soda on our computers and printers. The worst part was they dumped chocolate syrup left over from an ice cream party all over student records and the carpet."

Hoff said some of the school's neighbors have been very helpful in the past, calling law enforcement to report criminal activity. Still, the acts of vandals and thieves go unnoticed at times.

He said the school has been given a high-priority watch by the San Juan Unified School District. Private security, hired by the district, will keep an eye on the school.

Hoff said Sheriff's Department technicians were able to lift fingerprints near the broken window where the burglars crawled into the office.

At St. Mark's church, sound equipment was stolen. It was the second break-in at the church in three weeks.

Both burglaries occurred after 11 p.m. on a Friday night and before 7 a.m. the next day. It is unclear how burglars entered the first time, but there were signs of forced entry through the sanctuary front door with the second burglary.

Items taken included computers, projectors, sound boards, microphones and cables.

"The first burglary they got in and took a bunch of sound equipment, and then they waited three weeks and came back and got the rest," said the Rev. Faith Whitmore.

Senior Pastor Whitmore said law enforcement authorities told the church they were lucky in a way.

"We were told they probably waited three weeks, thinking that we would have re-supplied," Whitmore said. "We had ordered a lot but had not put it in yet."

Whitmore said there are no known suspects.

The church plans to install a more extensive alarm system. Neighbors are being helpful, she said.

Churches are targets when they are unoccupied, Whitmore said.

"Friday nights, there's just not much going on," she said.