Three teens caught in attempted school burglary

Jessica Garrison

NEWPORT BEACH -- Three Newport Beach teenagers were taken into

custody after police caught them attempting to steal items from Harbor

View Elementary School on Tuesday night.

At about 11 p.m., a Harbor View resident noticed a van parked near the

school and three teenagers loitering suspiciously near it, said Police

Sgt. Mike McDermott.

Police drove to the school to investigate and discovered that the van

had its cargo door open and that items from the school had been loaded

into it.

As police approached, one of the teenagers ran from the van, McDermott

said. Police then called out their helicopter, which is equipped with

devices that enable officers to see in the dark.

Officers quickly spotted two teenagers, both from Newport Beach,

crouched in the bushes and apprehended them.

The third teenager, a resident of Corona del Mar, was taken into

custody Wednesday afternoon.

All three have been released, two to their parents and the third, who

is a ward of the court, to those responsible for his care.

Police said the three will be referred to juvenile court.

The three entered the school by breaking a window and attempted to

steal a bicycle, a camera and other school equipment, McDermott said.

Some of the loot was intended as prizes for a school fund-raiser. The

school’s annual wrapping paper fund-raiser began Tuesday, and students

were shown the bicycle and the camera at a special school assembly, said

PTA President Toni Solow.

Solow said she was disturbed at the idea that local children had stolen

from an elementary school.

“It’s a sad indicator of the way our society is going,” she said. “I

think people think if their school or homes are going to be robbed, it’s

going to come from outside the area. ... I can’t even speculate on how

their parents must be feeling today.”

Connie Dudderidge, the district’s head of risk management, said

Tuesday’s incident was the first school robbery of the year.