Miami Man Charged With Stealing From Elementary School
MIAMI (CBS4) - A Miami man was taken to jail Wednesday night, accused of stealing computers from kids.
Police say James Fletcher, 54, broke into Toussaint L'ouverture Elementary School on Northeast 59th Street Monday. He's accused of taking four computers worth about four thousand dollars.
Miami Dade Schools Police say surveillance video helped them track Fletcher down.
"With that surveillance video our detectives were able to ID the individual who lives in the area. That, coupled with passing out fliers to the neighboring community members we were able to positively identify -- one of our citizens was able to positively identify the individual," explained Sgt. Ivan Silva.
Police say a person who lives near the school picked Fletcher out of a photo lineup
According a police report, Fletcher admitted to police he has a drug habit, but couldn't remember whether he broke into the school or stole the computers.
When CBS4's Maggie Newland asked him what happened, he responded, "I was in the area at the wrong place at the wrong time, but I cooperated and said everything's true… and I never did this a day in my life never." Fletcher continued, "they said I did it I must've did it but I'm positive I know I'm innocent."
Police say they're thankful for an alert community and ask everyone to report suspicious activity around schools.
"The ones that feel the most impact is our students, our children, because when they come to school the following day they don't have the opportunity to be able to use the computers as a resource for them to learn," said Sgt. Silva
