MSU Player, Others Charged In DPS Theft
A Michigan State University football player is among 10 men charged in the theft of 104 Detroit Public Schools lap top computers valued at $158,000.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced the charges Tuesday against 19-year-old Dion Sims and the other defendants.
The Spartans list Sims as a sophomore tight end.
The computers were stolen in December 2009 to January 2010 from five schools. Some have been tracked to Arizona, California, Florida, Minnesota, Ohio, Tennessee and Wisconsin, as well as Canada and the United Arab Emirates.
"These defendants allegedly stole these laptops from Detroit Public Schools and some of them ended up halfway around the globe. Meanwhile, right here in Michigan, Detroit's schoolchildren were without the proper technology to be able to compete in this world, " Prosecutor Worthy said. "Other people were getting ahead on their equipment," she said.
DPS Financial Manager Robert Bobb joined Worthy for the announcement.
"The charges show that we don't care if you are a cowardly two-bit crminal wearing ski masks,and raiding one of our schools in the middle of the night; or whether you're a football player from one of our state's biggest universities trafficking stolen goods in your off time; or whethere you're a sophisticated marketer of DPS stolen good on the Internet -- we will track you down, we will find you, we will bring you to the county prosecutor's office, and you will be charged criminally," Bobb said.
"To us, you're all a bunch of thugs, and you're going to soon see what happens to thugs who steal from our kids," he said.
All of the suspects are between 18 and 22 years old.
Three defendants, Brian Rogers, Dwaine Scott and Mark Scott have been identified as members of the "Helly Helly Bois" gang and have been charged with Conducting a Criminal Enterprise, a 20-year felony. They allegedly broke and entered into the schools and stole computers, later selling them to others.
Sims, along with Brian Rogers, Dwaine Scott and Mark Scott, Jaisaun Holt, Dezmen Faqua, Juan Legardy, Nicholas Tisdale, Danny Tiwaini and Christopher Schambre have been charged with Receiving & Concealing Stolen Property.
(Copyright 2010 by WWJ Radio. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report)
