MALI COMPUTERS STOLEN http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20131122/NEWS/311220337

Burglars hit Habitat for Humanity

Thieves steal $4,000 worth of computers and tools from store

November 22, 2013

Two thieves broke into Habitat for Humanity's ReStore Home Improvement Center on South Riverside Avenue shortly after midnight Thursday and stole an estimated $4,000 worth of computers and tools, a store official said.

The thieves smashed out a window in the back of the building to unlock a door and spent about 15 minutes taking things, said Sarah Naumes-Primerano, Habitat for Humanity's director of marketing and development.

Naumes-Primerano, who turned surveillance footage of the crime over to police, said a $1,000 pump controller, three Dell laptop computers, at least three DVD players, a top-of-the-line digital camera and two cordless drills — a Makita and a Black & Decker — were stolen.

"They knew exactly what they were doing; they knew exactly where they were going and what they wanted," said Naumes-Primerano, who watched the burglary unfold on surveillance tape Thursday.

Naumes-Primerano said the crooks even knew where the chargers for the drills were plugged in across the building.

She said none of the three computers stolen contain sensitive donor or home information, but they did contain construction programs crucial to the organization's work.

"It's stalling the building process," she said, describing the crime as "the lowest of the low."

Medford police Lt. Mike Budreau said police are in the process of analyzing the surveillance footage.

Police are asking anyone with information related to the crime to call police dispatch at 541-770-4783.

Reach Mail Tribune reporter Sam Wheeler at 541-776-4471 or swheeler@mailtribune.com.