‘Unusual Break-In' At Tuttle Middle School Leads To Teenagers Facing Charges

A break-in at a Grady County middle school leaves three teenagers facing charges. 

“A very unusual case. I’m glad we were able to close it,” Tuttle Police Detective Shana Berryhill said.

The unusual case also came with an unusual break. “I don’t want to encourage anybody to do that on their own, but it was very helpful,” Detective Berryhill said.

The case came to the department last month. It was reported as a break-in at Tuttle Middle School. Eight laptops and two computer monitors were stolen.

Berryhill reviewed the security footage. “Unfortunately, the individual was wearing a mask and was wearing all black,” she said. “So we couldn’t tell who it was.”

The investigation went back to square one. It stayed that way until Tuesday, which was a day before classes returned.

“A private citizen that was related to one of teachers there found an ad on Facebook from a suspicious Facebook profile,” Berryhill said.

The ad showed a laptop for sale. It seemed to match one that was stolen. That private citizen then set up a meeting with the seller.

“Actually went to the individual’s house and purchased the laptop,” the detective said. “[It] ended up being one of the laptops that was stolen.”

It could be considered a civilian sting. Investigators found the seller, who is a student at Tuttle Middle School.

According to the report, the student told police they did it with two friends and added “they tried about five windows before they found one that was unlocked.”

“They were bored,” Berryhill said. “They said they usually play basketball and they decided to break into a school this time.”

The laptops each valued at $1,000 and the monitors valued at a combined $1500 landed them felony charges of burglary and larceny.

“Hopefully, this will be a good learning lesson to go down a different path and not to do this anymore,” Berryhill said.

She hopes the return to school will alleviate the boredom. All but one of the stolen items were returned to the school.

Two of the teens will appear in Grady County juvenile court. The case of the third teen was turned over to Tribal Police.