Tulsa School Out Thousands Of Dollars After Thief Steals Classroom Equipment

A Tulsa school is out thousands of dollars, after a thief was caught on camera breaking into the school and stealing equipment from a classroom.

"I came over to check on Drexel, our school here, and learned that it was actually broken into," said Tim Newton.

Drexel Academy President Tim Newton said the burglary happened around 4:30 Monday morning, March 14. He said when he watched the security camera footage and saw the damage to the school, he was devastated.

"It is a nonprofit school, and it affects us greatly because we didn't budget for a break-in," said Newton.

The owner said the man broke two gates to access the back of the school, opened the breaker box, shut off the power, then threw a rock in the window of a fifth-grade classroom.

Newton said the thief stole a TV, which is used as a white board in the classroom. He's also missing several iPads and other technology learning tools.

"About anywhere between 3 to 4 thousand dollars of equipment that they stole from us," said Newton.

He said on top of that, several windows, a gate, and security cameras are also damaged.

Newton said the school began with a special mission.

"Our goal here at Drexel is to reach boys and girls that may not necessarily be able to afford a private school education but bring that to North Tulsa," said Newton.

He told those boys and girls that this break-in is not going to stop that mission. To the thief, he has a message.

"Shame on you for stealing from boys and girls. We’re going to make sure that what you did is not going to affect them. You didn't win. We're going to continue to strive on," said Newton.

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