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SANDY — Two men have been charged with breaking into a half-dozen schools in the Canyons School District since April.
The men, who police believe got into many of the schools by scaling the buildings and entering through the roof — sometimes rappelling into the buildings — are accused of stealing Chromebooks, a laptop, megaphones and a 3D printer, and also items such as candy, teacher name plates and chairs decorated as unicorns.
Jacob Nicholas Trapp, 18, and Reise Elijah Jones, 19, both of Sandy, were charged this week in 3rd District Court with 17 crimes each, including multiple counts of burglary and theft, arson and criminal mischief.
The string of thefts began in April when Sprucewood Elementary, 12025 S. 1000 East, was burglarized and responding police found open drawers and cabinets and items thrown on the floor throughout the school, according to charging documents.
About 30 minutes after burglar alarms went off at Sprucewood, alarms started going off at Lone Peak Elementary, 11515 S. High Mesa Drive. Police found "the roof hatch was forced open and damaged and a hole was found in the ceiling tiles where the suspects made entry into the building," according to the charges. Surveillance video showed the burglars then went into the office and attempted to disable the video surveillance system but were unsuccessful. Police say four Chromebook laptops, a 3D printer and two megaphones were stolen from Lone Peak.
On May 16, two people broke into Park Lane Elementary, 9955 S. Eastdell Drive, by going through a skylight. A similar break-in was reported at Eastmont Middle School, 10100 S. 1300 East, on July 17 where two large stuffed bears were stolen.
On July 26, police responded to roof alarms being set off at both Sunrise Elementary, 1520 E. 11265 South, and Altara Elementary, 800 E. 11000 South. Surveillance video collected later showed the burglars light "a small explosive" device inside Sunrise and throwing it on a hallway floor, according to the charges.
At Altara Elementary, the men damaged a door and camera and damaged the hard drive of a computer by throwing it on the floor, the charges state.
Some officers who were already at Altara Elementary were able to quickly respond to Sunrise when those alarms started going off. When officers arrived in the area, they spotted two people dressed in black "carrying large pink unicorns," according to charging documents. Officers yelled "Police!" but the two continued running into a nearby neighborhood.
After a brief chase, both men were eventually rounded up by police and a school district security guard. They admitted to breaking into multiple schools, damaging property inside and stealing items, according to the charging documents. Police reported finding burglary tools, such as a crowbar, in their backpacks, as well as rappelling gear.
When police searched Trapp's home, they reported finding a Chrome laptop, a 3D printer and a large stuffed bear all believed to be stolen from various schools. The charges also say that at Jones' home, police recovered a Dell laptop, a megaphone, teacher nameplates, a clock, a large stuffed bear and other items stolen off of teachers' desks.
