TEXAS COMPUTERS STOLEN http://www.click2houston.com/news/27659834/detail.html

Stolen School Computers Sold On Craigslist; 4 Arrested

By Stephen Dean

POSTED: Monday, April 25, 2011

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HOUSTON -- Four people were arrested on felony charges, accused of stealing computers from two Houston schools and then selling them on Craigslist, Local 2 Investigates reported.

It started as Houston police investigated a break-in at Lee High School on Fountain View Drive in southwest Houston, where 60 laptops were stolen along with battery docking stations and other components. Each computer was valued more than $1,100, but police found they were being sold online for a few hundred dollars.

That led officers to raid several apartments on Friday, where they found dozens of other computers that were taken from a different school that was burglarized within a few weeks of that first rip-off. In the second case, police said nearly $25,000 worth of laptops were stolen from the Southwest High School at 6400 Southwest Freeway in late February.

Felony theft charges were lodged against four people, who were arrested -- Juan Estaban Giraldo, 17; Priscilla Fitz-Garcia, Jonathan Dubon, 17; and Juan Miguel Delosa, 19.

Police said Dubon was also charged with another felony crime of breaching computer security since officers said he was in charge of wiping the Houston Independent School District programs and passwords from each computer before listing them on Craigslist for sale.

"Criminals no longer use pawn shops as much because records are kept at pawn shops. They'll use electronic media such as Craigslist and eBay to sell stolen items," said HPD Officer Mark Sebesta with the Midwest Investigative First Responder detail.

He said the 60 laptops and 30 battery docking stations stolen from Lee High School between Feb. 4 and Feb. 7 had a value of about $72,750. Sebesta said the four accused thieves admitted they were selling those computers and components for $100 to $250 around town, including the posting of Craigslist ads.

He said the Craigslist ads would describe the laptops and urge interested buyers to call or text a cellular phone number. Buyers would then meet the thieves at parking lots to exchange money for the laptops, the officer said.

Police have traced a number of those ads, tracking down the unsuspecting buyers and taking the computers back from them. Those buyers ended up losing the laptops and the money they paid to the theft ring, Sebesta said.

"In the tough economic times with HISD, I don't think HISD can afford to purchase (about) $75,000 of new electronic computers," said Sebesta.

A fifth person has been charged with felony theft, but police say Andres Garcia remains at large. Police are urging anyone with information on his whereabouts to call police or place an anonymous tip to Houston Crime Stoppers.

Police said buyers should beware when buying electronics or anything else online. Sebesta said one of the buyers who had his computer taken back by police indicated he should have known it was stolen. He said, in hindsight, he should have been suspicious that such a young person was offering several computers for sale at such low prices.

One buyer also told police he was suspicious because the seller quickly lowered his price when asked.

HPD said the computers stolen from Lee High School were all taken from a classroom called "The Grad Lab," where students make up missing credits so that they can graduate. Police said all 60 of the computers vanishing was likely to have set students back in their attempts to finish course-work, but most of the computers have now been returned to the school.

Police said Fitz-Garcia, Dubon, and Delosa were both charged with stealing computers from both schools.

At the Southwest High School break-in, police said 40 laptops and one desktop were stolen.

All but eight of the stolen computers have been recovered and returned to the schools, police said.

Police said they found most of the computers still bearing identification tags, such as "Property of HISD" when they were found in the raids of the suspects' apartments. They said the tags were usually removed before they were sold to unsuspecting buyers online.

If you have a news tip or question for KPRC Local 2 Investigates, drop them an e-mail or call their tipline at (713) 223-TIPS (8477).