MICHIGAN COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM SCHOOLSuspect uses school day conferences to find lootSuspect uses school day conferences to find loot
Friday, November 19, 2004
By Lisa Medendorp
CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER
A thief who police say took advantage of school buildings being open for recent parent-teacher conferences in the Mona Shores district was caught after items were stolen Nov. 12.

Jack Darnell Hendricks, 40, who has no permanent address, had been released from the Muskegon County Jail in late September due to overcrowding and was to participate in a work program.

A report said he never showed up for the program.

Norton Shores Lt. Timothy LaVigne said Hendricks was apprehended Nov. 12 after items were stolen from Churchill School, 961 W. Hile, and that he may be a suspect in thefts from other area schools.

Hendricks was arraigned in 60th District Court on Monday and again Thursday on larceny charges. He is accused of stealing a $1,200 laptop computer from Churchill School, and in another case with taking a $500 Palm Pilot from Omni Fitness Club in Muskegon Heights.

He also was arraigned on a charge of escaping from a misdemeanor jail sentence. He had originally been charged with illegal entry and retail fraud, according to a sheriff's department report.

Norton Shores and Muskegon police reports indicate a driver's license, credit card and video rental card that were found in Hendricks' possession when he was arrested belonged to an employee of Marquette Elementary School in Muskegon, who had her purse stolen from the building on Nov. 9.

Muskegon Detective Capt. Bill Wiebenga said the woman was at the school for a meeting and the report was made at 4:45 p.m. A charge against Hendricks in that case is now pending.

One of the police reports said there had been other recent larcencies at Moon, Nelson and Nims schools in the Muskegon system that possibly could involve the same man. "We have not ruled him out as a suspect," Wiebenga said Thursday.

The suspect in addition is believed to have visited Campbell School in Roosevelt Park the same day as the thefts from Churchill School. Nothing has been reported missing from Campbell School, according to Roosevelt Park police.

Police say the suspect was seen twice at Churchill School on Nov. 12.

Students were dismissed at 11:45 a.m. because of the conferences. At 12:25 p.m., a man wearing a bulky coat and hat was confronted by a teacher. The man said he was looking for the kindergarten classroom. The teacher thought he was possibly a parent.

A laptop computer and digital camera were stolen from a second-grade classroom about the same time, police said. Two other teachers in the building also said they saw a man roaming the school. The man told one teacher he was looking for a fourth-grade classroom, or for "Mrs. Smith."

When it was learned he might have been at Campbell School, the Churchill principal phoned the other school and learned a suspicious man had been there about 10:30 a.m., according to a police report.

At 4:55 p.m., police were called back to Churchill after an employee reported her wallet had been stolen after the man was seen again. Police Officer Ray Baker found the suspect riding a bicycle on Henry Street near Hile, LaVigne said.

In the meantime, a resident living in the area reported seeing a man on a bicycle discard a laptop computer. The serial number of the recovered computer matched that of the one missing from the school, police reported, and the man on the bicycle was identified by witnesses.

When the man was searched, police say they found a portable radio, Nintendo game system, the Marquette School employee's possessions, and a Palm Pilot that had been stolen from Omni Fitness Club.