Burglar steals GMUHS graduating class gift

By Shawn Cunningham
© 2016 Telegraph Publishing LLC

The Chester Police Department is looking for the person who broke into Green Mountain Union High School last night and stole the gift that the Class of 2016 had given to the school at graduation last month.

At about 11:45 p.m. Thursday, July 7, Chester Police responded to an alarm at the school finding that an emergency exit behind the stage had been opened. Meeting the lead custodian, the officer searched the building and found no one and no damage.

But this afternoon, workers were making preparations for an electrician to mount a 65-inch Vizio flat screen television that the Class of 2016 had given the school to serve as a multimedia information center outside the main office.

The workers called Facilities Supervisor Brendan McNamara to ask where the television was. “My heart sank,” McNamara said Friday afternoon. “The break-in was odd enough, but that’s when I knew.”

The television, valued at $1,000, had just been delivered and was sitting in the lobby still in its box, said McNamara. Surveillance video caught the theft in progress as the burglar sprinted from the auditorium to the Gallery lobby and slid the box containing the television back the way he came. According to McNamara, police arrived in under 10 minutes after the alarm sounded the night before, but the burglar — and the class gift — were gone.

The door is secured by an internal device that prevents someone from opening the door from the outside. “We do door checks every night,” said McNamara. “So what really feels bad is that someone may have hidden until the door check was done, removed the lock and came back later.”

The burglar was dressed in black from head to toe including a mask or goggles and a backpack. Police say the orange locking device can be seen sticking out of the backpack as the burglar runs by a security camera. “Whoever it was knew what he was doing,” said McNamara.

The Chester Police Department has released images of the burglar.

If you recognize this person or have information on this incident call the Chester Police Department at 875-2035.