CALIFORNIA COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM SCHOOLSAlameda Times-Star Online - More Local NewsBurglars make off with laptops meant to replace last batch stolen there

OAKLAND -- A new batch of laptop computers finally arrived last week at a Fruitvale area middle school plagued by thefts of computers and other equipment over the last year.
Unfortunately, the replacement computers also were stolen when burglars broke in and ransacked the principal's office at Melrose Leadership Academy early Monday morning.

A custodian found crooks had smashed a few windows and an office door to get to the computers, which were still in their boxes and waiting to be used for a family computer literacy program at the campus on 53rd Avenue and International Boulevard, Principal Moyra Contreras said.

Also missing were several digital cameras purchased to replace cameras stolen in a previous burglary, Contreras said.

"We're not victims," she said. "We're doing all kinds of really great things, (but) unfortunately we can't keep our equipment here."

A number of city schools are hit by break-ins on a regular basis, and police have said they don't have time to respond to every school burglar alarm.

The Melrose campus, which
includes a middle school and an elementary school, seems to be one of the hardest hit.

The school lost everything from students' violins to computers to Clif bars during numerous break-ins last year. At one point, police found several microscopes stolen from a classroom at a suspected drug house directly across the street from campus.

In another case, a woman who employees recognized as a prostitute on International Boulevard walked into school in the middle of the day and made off with three teachers' purses.

In September, someone stole computers, a laminating machine, about 100 disposable cameras, a book-binding machine, video cameras and other equipment from a locked storage room. There was no sign of a break-in, Contreras said.

Contreras kept the replacement laptops in her office for protection, but "it seemed like somebody knew they were there," she said.

The cost of damages and lost equipment over the last year could be as high as $100,000, Contreras said.