Two adults and two juveniles were arrested Monday after authorities caught them joyriding in a Hays CISD-owned SUV they had allegedly stole.
The SUV is one of a list of items, including seven golf carts, the four are suspected of stealing from the district over the course of a few days.
Juan Daniel Bardales, 17, of Kyle, was booked into the Hays County Jail on one count of theft, which is a third-degree felony. Fabian Noel Crum, 17, of Kyle, was booked on one count of theft, a third-degree felony, and one count of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, which is a state jail felony.
The two juveniles, who have not been identified, were booked into the Hays County Juvenile Detention Facility.
Jeff Barnett, Kyle police chief, said authorities were dispatched to Hays CISD's central administration complex around 7 a.m. Monday for a reported burglary. Barnett said employees who came to work discovered offices had been rummaged through and belongings had been moved. Officials also said a district owned Chevy Suburban had also been stolen.
While taking a report of the burglary, police and district officials reviewed surveillance camera footage and discovered the suspects driving a golf cart around the complex. When district officials conducted an inventory, they discovered seven golf carts were missing.
Roughly three hours later, Kyle Police, aided by a GPS beacon, located the stolen SUV. Officers conducted a traffic stop in the parking lot of EVO Entertainment on Kyle Crossing around 10:20 a.m. Monday. When the vehicle stopped, one of the suspects exited the car and fled the scene on foot and into an open field, Barnett said.
Officers surrounded the perimeter and caught the suspect in bushes in the field. The other three suspects were arrested without incident.
Following the arrests, officers then located three abandoned golf carts near Goforth Road. Barnett said police consulted the district and discovered the three carts, along with a fourth golf cart that had been found in Steeplechase Park a week earlier, all belonged to Hays CISD. Kyle Police have not located the other three golf carts.
Barnett said the teens were connected to the crimes as the theft of the SUV was around the same time surveillance cameras recorded suspects driving the golf cart.
Tim Savoy, Hays CISD public information officer, said the items were taken from the central office complex of buildings along I-35. Savoy said the suspects did not break into or get into the main central office building.
They did, however, get into the transportation building, as well as two portables, one of which housed the office of school leadership. Barnett said it's suspected the teens entered the facility with keys found in an unlocked district vehicle.
Savoy said items stolen included the Suburban and golf carts, along with six iPads, three of which were brand new.
The suspects also allegedly stole a laptop that didn’t store any data. Other miscellaneous items that were taken included $50 in cash and a personal camera.
Savoy said the district maintained a location for the Suburban via a GPS transponder beacon that had been installed. He said the district was able to keep an eye on where it was at all times.
However, GPS beacons were not installed in the golf carts.
In addition, Savoy said the district is planning to upgrade internal security measures in order to avoid similar problems.
That upgrade will include storing golf cart keys in a secured lockbox; Savoy said he didn’t believe the keys were in a lockbox when the carts were stolen.
Large-scale security measures will be looked at when the district constructs its new transportation facility, which was approved by voters as part of the May 2017 bond. The current administration and transportation facility wasn’t designed with today’s security measures in place, Savoy said.
However, the district won’t begin work on the new facility for the next two years.
“There are things we can be more vigilant on that will get us through until we can get into the new facility,” Savoy said. “That will be much better equipped to keep burglars out.”
Kyle Police continues to investigate the crimes. Bardales is being held at the Hays County Jail on $20,000 bond, while Krum is being held on $25,000 bond.
