District 95 metes out punishment to five student vandals, thieves
By James Pluta

Five students between the ages of 9 and 13 who allegedly vandalized and
stole computers and other items from classrooms, offices and hallways
inside Brookfield’s S.E. Gross Elementary School over the Thanksgiving
holiday weekend have been expelled.

The Brookfield/La Grange Park District 95 School Board reportedly voted
Dec. 15 to permanently remove three of the students for two full calendar
years, one student for the rest of the current year and the entire 2009-10
school year and another for the remainder of the current school year,
according to published reports.

A sixth student — among as many as 10 area elementary and high schoolers
believed involved in the break-ins between Nov. 26 and 30 — was not
expelled.

All of the accused — boys and girls from both Gross and Brook Park
Elementary in La Grange Park — have been serving a suspension since school
officials identified them as suspects Dec. 1.

However, two of the students involved in the burglaries, one which was
reported on Thanksgiving Day and the other, using keys stolen from the
first break-in on Thanksgiving night or just afterward, are 14-year-old
Lyons residents and Morton West High School students.

Shortly after the break-ins, three of the children were petitioned to Cook
County juvenile court on charges of burglary and criminal damage to
state-supported property, however the status of their criminal cases is
unknown.

Police have not stated whether any more than the four of the eight missing
laptop computers were recovered, but did describe the mess that was left
behind in each case.

In the first case, police were called to Gross, 3524 Maple Ave., on
Thanksgiving morning to meet with a janitor who was alerted by a
construction worker to broken glass, a discharged fire extinguisher, open
classrooms and desk drawers rifled through.

Doors to locked classrooms were pried open, possibly with a crow bar, and
paper, candy wrappers, soda cans, fruit cups and tacks were thrown on the
classroom floors.

Teachers’ desk drawers were also rifled through and three laptop computers
were reported missing.

Using two sets of keys stolen in the first break-in, another five laptop
computers were taken when the school was vandalized again, this time on
Thanksgiving evening.

In that incident, the administrative offices were broken into, as were
computer laboratories, and one of the stolen computers belonged to the
superintendent.

An additional laptop apparently was left behind, found next to an unlocked
exterior door, police said.