Two separate incidents over the summer resulted in the theft of four golf carts, 60 cameras and lenses, a drone and camera batteries from the school.

Three golf carts stored by the auto tech garage within a locked fence were discovered missing after Memorial Day weekend, according to principal Rob Coppo. Later in the summer, another golf cart located in the athletic training room was found missing after Rancho Santa Fe Security responded to the scene following a triggered alarm. After the incident, school administrators filed a police report and the investigation remains ongoing. 

A separate incident involving the theft of $80,000 worth of cameras occurred around June, according to Coppo. About 60 cameras were stolen from room 310 and 803, each room containing $30,000 to $40,000 worth of equipment. Cameras, lenses, microphones, batteries and a drone were also stolen from the Falcon Vision room. There is no evidence indicating that both thefts occurred on the same day.

The athletic training cart was later found off campus and was recovered and brought back to the school. According to athletic trainer Zayna Green, they have been using the old ASB golf cart, as the athletic training cart is still awaiting repairs following the incident. While one of the carts remains missing, the other three have been found and returned. 

“Our golf cart is really important when it comes to transporting injured athletes,” Green said. “It’s really important if somebody gets an injury that we can safely get them off of the field, or to their car, or wherever they need to go. So, not having a vehicle to do that had definitely created some challenges for us at the beginning of the year, and hopefully, we don’t ever have to deal with that again.”

In response to both incidents, all exterior doors were rekeyed within four to five days, and primary doors were rekeyed within a day, according to Coppo.

“It was very surprising,” Coppo said. “Like going after golf carts, I get it. But going to the level of going into a classroom and taking equipment away from other students … the trainer’s cart is the one that got me as well because that seemed to lead me to believe that there’s an athlete involved.”

Recovered security camera footage revealed possible suspects, which was handed over to the San Diego Police Department. In the 15 years Coppo has been the principal of the school, he has not experienced a theft of this extent. 

“The brief story is that late last spring a set of keys were missing,” Stephen Dickinson, SDUHSD Associate Superintendent of Business Services, said. “Shortly after, we experienced thefts on the campus. I may not be able to comment on much more as it is an active police investigation.”

Coppo also mentioned he was worried about the possibility of having to spend his entire principal budget for the year on the incident — approximately $50,000— until Manuel Zapata,  SDUHSD Director of Career Technical Education and Work Experience, stepped in. 

“I was on the verge of spending the entire budget for the year to get these cameras back for these kids,” Coppo said. “And Mr. Zapata swung in and said, ‘We’ll figure it out.’ So, he saved the school. Otherwise, I would have had no money for subs…that’s the kind of impact that I think the people who did this don’t realize.”

As Falcon Vision and digital arts students started out the new school year without their typical equipment, they were forced to adjust and make do until the district was able to replace the equipment by Aug. 21, according to Falcon Vision and Falconer adviser, Kara Adler. New measures are also being implemented to ensure the safety of the replaced equipment, according to Falcon Vision student, Eila Smith (11). According to Smith, the new cameras are locked, and students are required to fill out a google form and hand the cameras back to Adler once they are done.

“We just kind of had to find a way to move forward,” Falcon Vision anchor, Karina Shukla (11) said. “There was definitely a lot of like, ‘Who would do this?’…‘Who would take our equipment so that we wouldn’t be able to film?’… It was pretty sad, especially because so much money goes into the equipment.”

Not only was the safety of students put at risk by the break-in over the summer, but their productivity was also affected. This summer, Falcon Vision came back for their training camp, only to discover that their cameras and other equipment necessary for production were not there.  

“This year, since all of our cameras were stolen, we had to switch up training to only editing,” Vincent McKeever (12), an executive producer of Falcon Vision, said. “It has really gotten in the way of our training schedule. I think the new members are definitely going to have a harder time.”

The lack of cameras has made it difficult for the new Falcon Vision members to get hands-on experience during the first few weeks of school, affecting their productivity and the students’ ability to learn important skills. 

“I think what I would like to share is somebody knows something, so say something,” Coppo said. “This impacted teachers who care very much about providing a high quality education for our kids and it affected students.No one benefited here, because the people who did it aren’t going to get much out of it and people lost a lot of stuff.”

Since this is still an ongoing investigation, anyone with information please contact SDPD or submit an anonymous tip through San Diego Crime Stoppers.