Thefts lead to various losses for LHS Community

Security video stills from the night of Oct. 16 show a suspect entering Booth Hall. Photo courtesy of Chad Arlint.
Security video stills from the night of Oct. 16 show a suspect entering Booth Hall. Photo courtesy of Chad Arlint.

The LHS community suffered multiple thefts during three separate break-ins that occurred this month on and around the LHS campus.
 A number of vehicles belonging to LHS students and teachers were broken into Friday, Oct. 14, while parked at Jenifer Junior High a few blocks away from LHS. Thefts included several personal items such as an iPad and a set of LHS building keys, according to Chad Arlint, LHS assistant principal.
 The following night, at approximately 1 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 16, Booth Hall was burglarized. Items stolen included fishing gear, bikes, family pictures and thumb drives, according to Arlint.
   “My iPod with my DAYO (Dance Aerobics Yoga Orientation) music that took me a year to compile was stolen,” said Thera Follet, a PE and health teacher who has an office in the girls locker room at Booth Hall. “Random PE equipment was stolen, some of which we won’t even find until we need to use it.”
  The crime went further.
  “He also took some of the girls’ clothes and put them in a trash can and then pooped on them,” Follett said. She clarified that she had not found feces on her desk, as rumored.
   Lewiston police see the two crimes as linked together, according to Robert Massey, LHS student resource officer. A bag was found containing items from both sets of thefts, Arlint said. The keys stolen on the night of Oct. 14 were used to gain entry into Booth Hall Oct. 16, according to police and the Lewiston Tribune.
   Days later, another set of vehicle break-ins occurred at Vollmer Bowl, just north of Booth Hall, the afternoon of Wednesday, Oct. 19, during cheer and JV football practices.
  Jessi Earle, junior, found $40 missing from her car after cheer practice Oct. 19.
  “I am upset that people stoop to that level to get things they want instead of earning it themselves,” said Earle.
 According to Arlint a suspect has been idenitfied as 24-year-old male, James Dudley. As of Wednesday, Oct. 26, charges have been filed, but police are unable to find the suspect at this time, thus no arrests have been made, said Massey. Some of the personal stolen items have been recovered, but items such as the laptop and iPad have not. All three of the thefts have been tied together by evidence.