The Shocking and Mysterious Robbery at Grace Church School
Dr. Polanski, French Teacher, was very confused when she arrived at school on Monday morning, December 15 and found her MacBook Pro missing. She said, “I noticed immediately that it was gone. At first, I thought that I had forgotten it at home since every once in a while I will take it home. I had a free period, so I went home and searched around my entire house.” Unfortunately for Dr. Polanski, her laptop was not at her house; it was stolen.
At 6 p.m. on Saturday, December 15, an unidentified man, presumed to be homeless, broke into the Grace High School campus. He stole three teachers’ laptops. The man entered through a side door that was not properly closed. Dr. Ali Herndon realized what had happened first thing when he arrived at the school. He said, “Some of the technology around the school was indeed stolen this past Saturday. Dr. Polansky’s, Mr. Pennoyer’s, and his assistant Mr. Massa’s laptops were taken. We realized quite quickly Monday morning, and sent an email to the entire faculty… making sure nothing else was taken.”
Cameras were used to figure out exactly what occurred during the robbery. When looking back through the videotapes from the weekend, the school’s security team was able to identify the perpetrator, but are unable to share any information. One of the security guards, Jose, told us, “All that I know about him is that he’s a homeless guy. It happened after 6 p.m. on a Saturday… we do have have a video, but it is classified. I can’t share it.”
This incident raises questions about the level of security Grace Church School has, as it was so easily breached. Again, Jose answered, “Clearly, the problem is that no one is checking if the doors are closed correctly. It is a big problem knowing that we have a lot of kids here… the NYPD is looking for the man now, but they can’t find him. I have already given them a sketch of what the guy looks like. We also gave him a few pictures.” It is reassuring to note that Jose pointed out that this is the first time anything like this has ever happened at Grace
When pushed with further questioning, Daron, the other security guard, answered, “We don’t want to point any fingers. it was more of a lapse of judgment… [the man] actually pushed open the door. Yes, there is an alarm in the building. There was an issue with that exact door but it is fixed. It will never happen again.”
The teachers were, of course, dismayed to find that their laptops and some important data were gone for good. Dr. Polanski said, “Most of my stuff is on Google Drive, so thankfully I still have most of my class material. I am not a tech person though, so I didn’t make a backup. Everything that I had on Word is completely gone.”