CALIFORNIA COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM SCHOOLS DA: Students Stole 100 Computers From La Jolla School - Local News: DA: Students Stole 100 Computers From La Jolla School

POSTED: 11:50 am PST February 6, 2007
UPDATED: 3:40 pm PST February 6, 2007

SAN DIEGO -- Law enforcement officials said on Tuesday that three expelled La Jolla County Day School students are accused of stealing more than $200,000 of property from their school.

According to the San Diego County District Attorney's office, the series of burglaries took place between January 2004 and October 2006. Investigators said dozens of Macintosh G-5 desktop computers as well as Sony, Hewlett-Packard, Compaq and Dell laptops were stolen during a half-dozen incidents at the school.

"The arrest is an excellent example of teamwork between San Diego police detectives, DA CATCH Team investigators and prosecutors," District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis said in a news release issued on Tuesday morning.

The district attorney's office said the investigation took a turn in December when one of the school's new laptops was turned on by somebody who purchased it on eBay. The machine had been loaded with remote tracking software, according to investigators, and authorities used that program to locate it. Officials said they eventually determined that the person who sold thecomputer was a 17-year-old senior at La Jolla Country Day School.

Officials said they then undertook a sting operation to buy another computer from the teen, which they said they were able to do on Dec. 16. Authorities said they searched the teen's home and a storage space in Sorrento Valley during the investigation and recovered 42 stolen laptops and 10 Macintosh G-5s. According to the news release, some of the laptops were found under the teen's bed.

Officals said they also seized bolt cutters, ski masks and a pry bar during their investigation.

"La Jolla Country Day School is committed to working with parents on the development of social responsibility and character as part of our mission," school officials said in a statement that was also released on Tuesday morning. "As a result, we were dismayed to learn that some current students were perpetrators of the crimes against our school."