Police: Former D97 Employee Stole 47 iPads from District

A former School District 97 employee turned herself in to Oak Park police this week for stealing 47 iPads from the district, police said.

Markeita Beecher-Martin, 25, of Radcliff, Ky., was charged with theft after turning herself in June 18. The incident, in which police said Beecher-Martin took 47 Apple mini iPad tablets from a shipment of 100 to the school, was reported in September 2013. 

The district bought the devices using federal funds and planned to use them for the Title 1 program, according to a previous Patch article. They were worth about $14,500.

According to a previous article, the iPads were stolen from a second-floor room of the administration building, 970 Madison St., between June 25 and Aug. 29, 2013.

The Oak Park Elementary School District 97 Board of Education over the summer voted 6-1 to approve the 1:1 Technology Initiative plan to put an iPad in every student's hands by 2015, starting with a rollout to fifth graders during this school year. 

"Needless to say, we are incredibly dismayed and disappointed that someone made the conscious decision to put their own needs ahead of those of our students," District 97 Spokesman Chris Jasculca said previously. 

According to the Wednesday Journal, police were able to recover some of the iPads. Some turned up on Craigslist, which led police to Beecher-Martin.