Man pleads to school burglary

INDIANA COMPUTER THIEF PLEADS GUILTY Man pleads to school burglary:

4/18/2009 11:30:00 AM Email this article • Print this article
Man pleads to school burglary

Stan Maddux
For The News-Dispatch

LA PORTE - A La Porte man admitted Friday to breaking into Kesling Middle School.

According to court documents, 24-year-old David Brown stole four laptop computers from the principal's office to feed a drug habit.

Under a guilty plea in La Porte Circuit Court, Brown will receive a nine-year prison sentence along with two years probation for Class B felony burglary and Class D felonytheft.

Court documents show Brown, of 806 Jackson St., broke into the school in November 2008 by opening an office window on the lower level of the building. He tripped an alarm, though, and fled empty handed.

The next day, police said, the school was discovered broken into again. Entry was made through the same window but this time Brown managed not to activate the alarm, court records disclosed. He took four laptop computers and left the office in disarray with drawers and cabinet doors left open.

According to police, the investigation quickly led to Brown, who revealed he sold the computers to a Chicago drug dealer in the 600 block of Jefferson Avenue. In return, Brown said he received five grams of cocaine.

Brown also admitted to a theft at Red Carpet Liquors in La Porte. Further details on that crime were not revealed.

The plea was taken under advisement by Judge Pro-Tem William Herrbach, who took the bench in the absence of Judge Tom Alevizos.

If the terms are approved, a hearing was scheduled May 15 for sentencing.