An employee has been charged with stealing almost $30,000 worth of laptops from a middle school in Highland Park and selling them online and in-person.
The Highland Park Police Department responded on February 5 to Elm Place Middle School, 2031 Sheridan Road, for a report of a theft.
North Shore School District 112 Assistant Superintendent Monica Schraeder called police to report the theft of 20 laptops that belonged to the district, according to a police report obtained by Lake and McHenry County Scanner.
Officers spoke to a director at the district who helped investigate the missing Apple MacBook laptops.
He determined a single person had manipulated and deleted the involved computers’ identifying data.
The director reported this was “highly suspicious” and Carlos Garcia Jr., 42, of Elgin, was identified as the suspect who edited the data, the police report said.
Garcia was the school district’s tech specialist and worked in the position for two years.
The school district interviewed Garcia just prior to calling the police and he reported he was having financial difficulties.
Garcia admitted to stealing and selling the 20 laptops for personal gain, the report said.
He claimed he stole and sold the items to help pay for a family member’s cancer treatment and was remorseful of his actions, the report said.
Garcia was placed on paid leave with a recommendation for termination.
Garcia was interviewed at the police department and provided detectives further information on why he stole the laptops, how he stole them and other pertinent details.
He told investigators that a new laptop was around $900 but the school district advised each computer costs $1,498, for a total of just under $30,000 in loss to the district, according to the police report.
Garcia said he was selling the stolen laptops for around $600 each and sold them online through Craigslist and through physical flyers. He said he would take one laptop at a time from the school, the report said.
The school district sought charges to be filed and the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office reviewed the case and approved two counts of theft, Class 1 and 2 felonies.
An arrest warrant was issued for Garcia and he turned himself in to the Lake County Jail in Waukegan last month.
He was released from custody pending trial and is scheduled to appear in court again on Wednesday for a status of preliminary hearing.