A 30-year-old Cookeville man has been charged with five counts of theft after he was allegedly caught pillaging DeKalb Middle School while doing repairs during spring break.
According to Smithville Police Chief Randy Caplinger, Jason Michael Stockton of Cookeville faces one charge of theft over $1,000 and four charges of theft under $500. Stockton is accused of stealing items including laptops, cash, teachers and students belongings and other items.
Smithville Police Department Detective Brandon Donnell told the Review that video surveillance gave the thieves away.
“Some work was being done by a company from Cookeville called Concrete Coatings at the Middle School during spring break, and when the teachers returned last Monday they noticed a lot of things were missing,” Donnell shared. “A review of surveillance tapes clearly shows some of the workers taking items from classrooms and teachers desks, and taking them to their vehicles. They took laptop computers worth more than $5,000, along with some money that was being raised for Relay for Life and personal items including a watch, a ring, bottled drinks, and an iPod.”
When Director of Schools Mark Willoughby met with the workers, the detective was called to the board of education building, and said he immediately recognized one of the men there from surveillance footage.
“When I arrived, one of the guys in the video was sitting there,” the detective said. “He had shaved and had a haircut, and at first he denied that the person in the video was him, but soon admitted that he was the man shown on the video.”
The stolen goods had an estimated value of nearly $6,000.
Donnell said police found many of of the items stolen from the school at Stockton's home when he was arrested on April 4.
The detective also said that at least one more suspect is being sought in connection with the thefts.
Stockton’s bond totals $48,000 and he will appear in court on April 10.
Meanwhile, a 34-year-old former employee of the local McDonalds restaurant faces three counts of theft after she allegedly cashed three paychecks that had already been deposited.
Jerk Beckham has been charged with three counts of theft under $500.
Caplinger said Beckham used a phone application called Mobile Deposit to deposit three paychecks into her bank account. The app allows the user to make deposits by taking a picture of a check.
 Beckham allegedly deposited the checks by phone, then took the three paper copies of the checks to Food Lion, where she cashed them again.
A checks in the amount of $438.68 was allegedly cashed on Jan. 2, one for $388.78 on Jan. 21; and one for $200.98 on Feb. 15.
Her bond was set at $4,500, and she will appear in court on April 24.