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Thieves steal from San Francisco students; school break-ins not uncommon

By Lisa Fernandez
Published  January 13, 2020 7:03am PST
San Francisco
KTVU FOX 2

SAN FRANCISCO - The robotics team at the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in San Francisco said thieves broke into their newly built shed for the second time over the weekend, stealing thousands of dollars in laptops and power tools. 

But thanks to a quick fundraising campaign, the sudents from the SOTA Cyberdragons Team 5700, were able to garner more than $13,000 in donations and will be able to buy a jig saw and circle saw, just in time for their upcoming competitions.

Surveillance video from Ruth Asawa School for the Arts.

School break-ins are not unusual. 

In 2018, the most recent year available, the San Francisco Unified School District suffered at least $31,000 in stolen equipment, from 87 Chromebooks stolen from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School and Galileo High School to seven Apple Macbook Air computers taken from Hilltop High School, according to records provided to KTVU. 

San Jose Unified suffered break-ins last year, too: They occurred at Leland, Lincoln and Pioneer high schools, as well as Bret Harte middle schools, records show. 

Thieves steal 60 laptops from East Oakland Elementary School

Oakland Unified School District suffered the greatest losses. Over six months in 2019, nearly $400,000 in electronics and computers were taken from from February to July of last year, according to a Public Records Request obtained by KTVU. Some examples include $92,000 worth of Chromebooks taken from Markham Elementary School last September, $13,000 worth of drawing pads, digital cameras and computers from Madison Park School last May and 71 iMac computers stolen from Skyline High School last July totaling $111,000, records show. 

But thanks to a quick fundraising campaign, the sudents from the SOTA Cyberdragons Team 5700, were able to garner more than $13,000 in donations and will be able to buy a jig saw and circle saw, just in time for their upcoming competitions.

The thefts are emotional setbacks for the students and pose logistical setbacks for teachers, whose lessons get stalled without the proper equipment, administrators say. 

Thieves break into East Bay schools, steal laptops

"The look on the students faces was just of devastation," Oaklan's Markham Elementary Principal AnitaSummerlin said after thieves took 60 laptops last fall. "They really take pride in their computers. They take pride in the technology coming to the school.  And they were just totally devastated." 

And when thieves broke into Oakland's Castlemont High in October 2019 stealing computers and power tools, teacher Tim Bemmer said: "We literally don't have the tools to run program, so clases that we offer our projects that we want to do are put on pause until those tools are replenished or we're able to get new ones."  Castlemont was hit at least twice in 2019. Records show nine iMacs worth $13,000 were taken in April of that year. 

San Francisco police said they are investigating the burglaries. Anyone with information about the crimes is encouraged to call 415-575-4444 or text a tip to 847411, beginning the text with “SFPD.”