OREGON COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM JEWISH REVIEW Jewish Review: At Jewish Review: Burglars steal PCs

At Jewish Review: Burglars steal PCs

Thieves stole two key laptop computers from the offices of the Jewish Review in an apparent smash-and-grab burglary over the President's Day weekend.

The thieves used large rocks to puncture the shatter-resistant glass windows in the adjoining offices occupied by the papers two top editors.

Police said one or more thieves apparently boosted another high enough to reach the windows, which are about nine feet above ground.

An Portland Police Bureau Identification Division officer searched both offices for fingerprints. Both jaggedly broken windows, one gaping wide enough to accommodate an intruder, were examined for residual DNA.

"Even the not so smart criminals are smart enough to wear gloves," said first responder Officer Nathan Voeller, who added that cases such as these often are solved when an individual contacted by police in different circumstances ends up confessing to various crimes.

Voeller said once the data is accumulated from the crime scene it is sent to the detectives office, where cases are typically prioritized based on monetary merit. Officer Voeller estimated each window and laptop would equate to $500 in loss for the Federation and Review, respectively.

Jewish Review Editor Paul Haist said the replacement cost of the two laptops would greatly exceed the police estimate. He added that the more significant loss was all the stories and other documents, which had not yet been backed up.

The burglary occurred just as the paper's staff was about to begin the layout of this edition of the paper. Most local stories had been backed up to another location, but all the wire stories and images had to be resent by the paper's wire service, and new layout computers had to be set-up.

There are no immediate suspects, though authorities know the burglary occurred very early Saturday morning, thanks to a silent alarm that was triggered.

While the laptops are likely of nominal resale value, they contained countless documents and correspondences for both Haist and City Editor Deborah Moon. Any one who made recent contact with either editor is asked to resend or resubmit any documentation or correspondence due to the inconvenience.

Both offices are located at the back of the building at 6680 SW Capitol Hwy. Each has windows facing south. Three rocks, likely accomplices in the burglary, were found in the offices and are now doorstops.

The Jewish Review moved into the Southwest Capitol Highway building more than six years ago. The Review previously was located downtown.

This was the first break-in for the newspaper in at least 16 years.