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Burglars have hit South Coast schools three times in less than a week, making off with almost $25,000 worth of computer equipment, with the latest incidents occurring at Laguna Blanca School.
Computers were stolen from the campus, at 4125 Paloma Drive, in two separate break-ins — one on Saturday and the most recent on Tuesday, according to Kelly Hoover, spokeswoman for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.
“It appears that these break-ins are happening in the middle of the night,” she said, adding that both of the Laguna Blanca incidents were discovered the next day.
Hoover said Sony laptops were stolen during Saturday’s break-in, resulting in a loss of $10,000, and Tuesday’s incident included iMac desktop computers, valued at $3,800.
“There are suspects that appear to be targeting schools that have computer equipment that are visible from a window,” she said. “We’re encouraging schools to take extra steps to secure their equipment.”
Those incidents come just days after $10,000 worth of computer equipment was taken from Vieja Valley School at 434 Nogal Drive. That break-in occurred at 3:30 a.m. last Thursday, when a custodian reported that the school’s alarm had sounded.
Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the campus and discovered that seven Apple computers and miscellaneous components had been stolen, Hoover said.
She said detectives are reviewing video footage. Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to call the sheriff’s Detective Bureau at 805.681.4150.
— Noozhawk staff writer Lara Cooper can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
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