Electronics, cash stolen from Sequoia school | InMaricopa.com

ARIZONA COMPUTERS STOLEN Electronics, cash stolen from Sequoia school | InMaricopa.com: 

Electronics, cash stolen from Sequoia school
By Tim Howsare
March 20, 2012 - 4:09 pm

Sequoia High School principal Jon Gentile said electronics equipment and cash were stolen from the charter school.
Photo by Tim Howsare.

Several thousand dollars worth of electronics equipment and about $150 in cash were stolen from the high school at Sequoia Pathway Academy in two recent break-ins, principal Jon Gentile said Tuesday.

Stolen in the two incidents were seven computers worth about $700 each, a 50-inch flat screen TV worth about $600, five guitar amplifiers worth between $100 to $200 each and about $150 in cash belonging to the Parent-Teacher Organization, he said. A stereo system with a separate amplifier also was stolen, but Gentile said he was uncertain of the value because the system was donated by a church.

The charter school is at 19287 N. Porter Road near Pacana Park.

Gentile said the first break-in and thefts occurred sometime last week during the academy’s spring break, and the second sometime between 6 p.m. Sunday and 6:30 a.m. Monday.

Gentile was notified of the first break-in around 4 p.m. Sunday, so the second one had to occur later on Sunday or early Monday, he said.

Only the modular units, where high school classes are held, were broken into and not the school’s new building for the lower grades, he said. Some 115 students attend the high school.

Unlike the recent incident at Maricopa High School where windows and computers were smashed and offensive graffiti painted on walls, Gentile said there was no graffiti or damage that could be called vandalism except for “the mess” the suspects left when they yanked the computers from their connections.

“As upsetting as this is, it could have been much worse,” he said.

Ricardo Alvarado, public information officer for the Maricopa Police Department, said evidence was located on the scene, but he could not give specific information because it is an active investigation.

Gentile said there were sets of footprints where it appeared the suspects climbed over the fence and landed on the ground inside the fence.

He said the break-ins likely were committed by individuals familiar with the school.

“My feeling is this wasn’t done by outsiders, I think it might be students,” he said.

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