Orlando Sentinel
December 5, 2013
Burglars who broke into Pinewood Elementary School ruined thousands of dollars in food.
Orange County deputy sheriffs, who investigated the break-in, canvassed an adjacent neighborhood before they arrested James Darrell Rogers Jr., 21, who lives within walking distance of the school. He was in possession of a white bin containing chocolate milk, cheese and salad dressing.
He also had spilled milk on his clothes, deputies said.
Authorities were called to the Orange County school at 3005 N. Apopka Vineland Road about 1 a.m. Tuesday by an unidentified tipster who saw people throwing boxes over a fence behind the school. The culprits may have gotten into the building by removing a board that had blocked a window broken in a previous burglary.
Deputies searched the school with a trained canine and followed a trail from the building to the site where Rogers was arrested.
Cafeteria coolers were left open and packaged meats scattered on the floor; cartons of chocolate milk were spilled; a window was smashed open; and a freezer door was ripped off its hinges, according to deputies who located a hammer that could have been used to break the window and pry open a metal gate. It had blood on the handle.
A school security officer estimated the loss at more than $10,000, including vandalism and spoiled food.
Rogers was in the Orange County Jail on charges of burglary, criminal mischief, petty theft and trespassing on school grounds.