A recent burglary at St. Croix Central High School resulted in the loss of specialized technical equipment valued at approximately $300,000 and the Department of Education is urging anyone with any information to come forward.
According to St. Croix Superintendent Gary Molloy, the equipment was stolen from the school’s special education and science areas, and included computers, projectors and televisions.
The equipment was recently received for a pilot program that was expected to launch this week, Molloy said in a statement from Education. “We are heartbroken that this has occurred, particularly since the department and our school administrators worked so hard to procure the equipment and to get things up and running,” he said.
While both areas were heavily secured and monitored by surveillance cameras, perpetrators were able to gain entry by cutting through bars on classroom doors and windows, according to Molloy.
“We believe that this was a targeted act,” Molloy said. “The individuals responsible for this came prepared with the tools and the transportation necessary to remove this equipment, and we are asking anyone that may have seen anything over the Thanksgiving break to report that information to authorities as soon as possible so that we may be able to recover this equipment.”
Molloy and school administrators have continued to work with police in investigating the incident, including completing an inventory of the stolen equipment and reviewing the surveillance footage with authorities. Meanwhile the department is asking for the public’s help in helping to recover the equipment (which bears government tags) by calling in any relevant information to 712-6075, 712-6035, 778-2211 or Crime Stoppers USVI at 1-800-222-TIPS.
