Power-Hungry Thieves Heist $50K of Electrical Equipment from Riverside Elementary School
Bandits stormed Fremont Elementary School in Riverside early Saturday morning to steal - not money, children or school lunches - but high-voltage electrical breakers. They escaped with an estimated $50,000 worth of electrical equipment, leaving behind a rather chilly Monday for students and school staffers.
The skilled thieves broke into the city's electrical transformer and disconnected the live power before removing the large breakers in the main service and subsidiary service panels. Heisted items include the main breaker switches plus numerous sub-breaker switches from the electrical switch gear.
The school district notified parents of the incident via automated phone calls and emails and also handed out letters to parents dropping their kids off at school on Monday morning.
CBS LA reported that "parents were told to have their children wear jackets." Stay warm, kiddos.
School district officials scrambled to secure a $30,000 part to restore power over the weekend. A replacement part was flown in from New York, and power was restored to all but the school's portable classrooms late Sunday.
Riverside police have zero suspects and witnesses at this time. The district received a first alarm on Saturday at 1:59am notifying that the power was out. A second alarm signaling back-up battery power was triggered shortly thereafter. Staff arrived at the school within minutes and likely scared away the bandits.
Another facility, the Seventh Day Baptist Church at 5901 Chicago Avenue, fell victim to a similar theft around 3am.
