Police search for suspects in school computer thefts


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PLEASANT GROVE -- Police and administrators are trying to figure out who's been stealing laptops from Pleasant Grove High School.

During three separate incidents, someone has gained access to school classrooms and taken off with $7,500 worth of computers.

But administrators with the Alpine School District say they have very little to go on.

"A lot of times when something like this happens, there is a rumor mill and the kids will come in and say, ‘I've heard this' or ‘I've heard that,'" said district spokeswoman Rhonda Bromley. "Unfortunately in this case, there hasn't been a lot of that happening.


There are a lot of things those teachers need on those particular computers. In a year where budgets are tight, it's especially frustrating.

–Rhonda Bromley


Police say in the past three months, five computers were taken out of classrooms located in the older section of the school. Officers say a pair of keys to that section of the building was reported stolen, and it appears the thief is using those keys to access the building.

Bromley says the stolen computers belong to teachers, but no personal information was stored on them. However, she says the thefts are frustrating to those teachers who lost lesson plans and other valuable information.

Rhonda Bromley
Rhonda Bromley

"Luckily, things like attendance and grades are all saved at the school and district level, but there are a lot of things those teachers need on those particular computers," said Bromley. "In a year where budgets are tight, it's especially frustrating."

Bromley says the person responsible for the thefts is specifically going after computers. She says there has been no vandalism to the school, and no other expensive equipment has been stolen.

There have been reports of stolen petty cash and a stolen longboard, but police don't know if those thefts are connected to the stolen computers.

Police say surveillance video did catch two people in the school around the time one of the thefts occurred, but further investigation led them to rule out the pair as suspects.

Bromley says the district is now in the process of having the older sections of the school rekeyed with a security system that allows administrators to know who goes in and out of the building at any given time.

E-mail: spark@ksl.com

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