TENNESSEE COMPUTER THIEF CHARGED http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_168255.asp

City Parks And Recreation Employee Charged In Theft Of Howard School Computers

Said He Sold 3 Stolen Laptops; 1 Found In His Basement

posted February 4, 2010

Chattanooga Police property crimes investigators have arrested a city parks and recreation employee in connection with the theft of laptop computers from Howard High School on Jan. 6.

Police said warrants were obtained for Michael Douglas, 52, after it was learned that he had sold several of the stolen Dell laptops from Howard to three different individuals.

Investigators questioned Douglas and also located one of the laptops in the basement of his Chattanooga residence at 2501 Ridgeside Dr.

Douglas told police he purchased the laptops from "an unknown black male" while standing in front of the Half Note, a club on MLK Boulevard.

Douglas was booked for theft over $1,000 late Wednesday. His bond was set at $3,000. He is due to appear in General Sessions Court on Feb. 25 at 1:30 p.m.

Police said he admitted to purchasing four of the Dell laptop computers about two weeks ago and reselling three of the stolen laptops for profit. Police received those three stolen laptops that had been sold to three other city employees - Shay Smith, Montrell Besley and Tira Robinson.

Police said an anonymous tip Crime Stoppers led officers to question Douglas.

Police also said, "Investigators are still following leads and talking to people of interest in this case which is still open. There is no evidence to suggest that the Howard High School burglaries are in any way related to the burglaries at Lakeside Elementary and Normal Park."

City officials said Douglas has been relieved of duty "until sufficient and complete information is available to determine his employment status."

He was a recreation specialist for the South Chattanooga Recreation Center.

There had been two recent Howard High burglaries, and Supt. Jim Scales earlier said he believed they may be "inside jobs."

The first burglary at the school at 2500 Market St.occurred on Jan. 6 close to midnight. Police said someone entered the school through an unsecured window and made their way to the principal’s office. They broke a window to make entry into the office and took 22 Dell laptop computers, model E6400, 15 Sansafuze MP3 players, and two $100 Visa gift cards. The total loss was estimated to be $22,650.

The suspect exited the school through double doors, loaded the computers into the bed of a truck and left the scene.

The second burglary occurred sometime between Jan. 7-11. This time, the suspect forced a window open in a classroom and went to the television broadcasting room. The suspect entered the room by breaking a window on the door and took seven Apple iMac laptops valued at $3,100 each and a DVD burner valued at $1,600. The loss was estimated to be $23,300.

Police earlier said it was believed that the suspect was driving a car because a spare tire was left at the scene in order to make room for the computers in the trunk.

Police had said the stolen computers could be identified as such through the Chattanooga Police Department.

Police had said, "If you have purchased a Dell or iMac laptop recently and you think it may be stolen, call the police department for verification."

The Howard burglaries were the subject of a Crime Stopper's report and county government had also offered a $1,000 reward for help catching those involved in those and other school burglaries.