2 Arrested in School Burglaries

Using crowbars to pry open doors or torches to melt through plastic windows, burglars have broken into nearly two dozen schools in Anaheim and Fullerton in the past three months and hauled off scores of classroom computers, televisions, VCRs and electronic devices.

After weeks of late-night stakeouts, police Monday arrested a suspect in the case. A few weeks earlier, another suspect was arrested and charged with possession of stolen property. Authorities said the break-ins have stopped since the arrests but believe other suspects are at large.

More than 50 elementary, secondary and private school classrooms have been hit, with some schools being raided more than six times, according to officials.

Educators are now struggling to replace the stolen equipment, but say they can’t replace all of it--particularly the teaching programs and class assignments stored on many of the computers’ hard drives.

The break-ins began shortly before Christmas and continued until this week, according to Anaheim and Fullerton elementary school officials.

In most cases, thieves pried open doors, broke windows or removed louvered panels. The schools didn’t have burglar alarms.

Officers made their first arrest Feb. 13, alleging that Danny Lee Snell, 38, of Anaheim was in possession of numerous stolen items. The second suspect, Steven Warren Knight, 32, of Anaheim, was arrested early Monday after he tried to run from police who reportedly watched as he tried to break into Guinn Elementary School in Anaheim. He was booked on four counts of burglary, five counts of receiving stolen property, one count of felony evasion and a motor vehicle violation.