NEW JERSEY BURLINGTON COUNTY EMPLOYEE CHARGED WITH STEALING COMPUTERS FROM BUILDINGS http://www.nj.com/news/times/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-7/1161923353323710.xml&coll=5

Burlco employee charged with work thefts
Suspect allegedly took from county buildings

Friday, October 27, 2006
BY KEVIN SHEA

MOUNT HOLLY -- A Burlington County employee with access to all county facilities has been arrested on charges he stole various items from county buildings, everything from orange traffic cones to laptop computers assigned to judges, officials announced yesterday.

Louis Spadaccino, 36, of Delran was arrested Wednesday afternoon when authorities searched his vehicle and a self-storage unit he rented in Cinnaminson and found numerous items belonging to the county, including video equipment and tools, authorities said.

Spadaccino has been charged with official misconduct and receiving stolen property and was jailed at the Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly. He posted $50,000 bail later Wednesday and was set free.

Spadaccino was assigned to the heating and air-conditioning unit of the county's Buildings and Grounds Department and had access to all county facilities, the Burlington County Prosecutor's and Sheriff's offices said yesterday in a joint statement.

The sheriff's office said thefts of county property linked to Spadaccino date to March 2003.

The office said missing items were reported at several county locations, including 49 and 50 Rancocas Road and the historic Court House on High Street, all in Mount Holly, and county Highway Department facilities in Hainesport and Westampton.

Thefts also were reported at the Health Department, Emergency Services and Public Safety facilities, all in Westampton, and at the Burlington County Detention Center and Buttonwood Hospital in Pemberton Township.

Stolen were video and camera equipment, PDA devices and numerous tools and equipment, including a lawnmower, edgers, pole saws and traffic cones, officials said. Spadaccino also has been charged with the theft of laptop computers assigned to two Superior Court judges who work at the historic court house.

Lead investigator Detective Sgt. Carol Cooper of the sheriff's office has been investigating Spadaccino since June, when she identified him as a suspect.

Cooper's investigation found Spadaccino allegedly stole items while on and off duty and that he sold the computers and some other devices. The remaining property was recovered in his truck and at the storage unit he rented, the prosecutor's office said.

The computers Spadaccino allegedly took did not appear to contain sensitive or confidential material, the prosecutor's office said.

The investigation was ongoing yesterday and the prosecutor's office said it may result in additional arrests.

The total value of the stolen property still was being tabulated yesterday.

Anyone with information concerning the thefts is asked to call the sheriff's office at (609) 265-5127 or the prosecutor's office at (609) 265-5035.