New York, Mar. 14, (tca/dpa/GNA) – A crew of teens has stolen over $40,000 in calculators from Bronx high schools in a burglary spree that has spanned more than a month, police in New York said Monday.
The teens, described as 15 to 18 years old, have also damaged at least $15,000 worth of property in the nine incidents.
They first struck the NYC Charter High School for Architecture, Engineering and Construction Industries on Brook Avenue near Third Avenue in Melrose around 2:25 am on February 6, cops said.
Two of the teens climbed up the fire escape and broke into the school, ransacking the second and third floors. They made off with $6,900 worth of calculators.
They laid low for nearly two weeks until February 19, when the burglary crew increased by two members.
They broke into Bronx Regional High School on the corner of Stebbins Avenue and East 170th Street in Longwood around 2:35 am where they stole another $1,465 worth of calculators.
Morris High School in Morrisania was targeted two days in a row, cops said.
The crew then broke into Mott Haven Village Preparatory High School on March 1 around 1:20 am before returning later that night around 10:30 pm, cops said.
They made off with $28,120 worth of calculators at the South Bronx campus, where they smashed entrances with bricks to gain access.
On March 5, they returned to Morris High School around 4:36 am, where they smashed a cafeteria window with a brick and used a hammer to break glass throughout the building – a destructive spree adding up to over $15,000 in property damage.
Hours earlier, they destroyed a $300 lock at the South Bronx Community Charter School in Morrisania, police said.
They didn’t make off with any school property in either burglary.
The last time the teens struck, they broke into Legacy College Preparatory High School on Cauldwell Avenue near East 160th Street around 3 am, cops said.
After they broke the glass door of a classroom to get into the school, they stole about $6,000 worth of calculators.
No one was injured in any of the burglaries.
Police are still looking for the teens and are asking the public’s help in identifying them.
GNA