Break-in at Portland H.S. nets more than 20 laptops

PORTLAND, Ore. -- More than 20 laptops were stolen from a northeast Portland high school over the weekend, police said. District officials said someone broke into Madison High School late Friday or early Saturday. Using bolt cutters, the burglar or burglars accessed a cabinet and swiped 24 laptops from an English as a Second Language classroom, according to Portland school officials.

The burglary is similar to computer thefts at other Portland schools, but police have not confirmed if the crimes are connected.

Students at the high school said they depended on the stolen laptops.

"It’s kind of like a necessity in every class because there’s a lot of typing and things need to get printed out. And most kids don’t have printers or computers at home," said student Maya Reynolds.

Zaquary Rogers said his English classroom was broken into six weeks ago and his study hall room was burglarized before spring break.

"We need as much stuff as we can get and people stealing it ruins our learning," Rogers said.

No arrests have been made and police said they do not have a suspect at this time.

"It's always upsetting because why should they do this to a school? We're here to learn, not to get our school broken into. When you think about it, it's bad. Why would anybody do that?" said Aaron Elliott, a Madison High School student.

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