Police in Independence Township arrested an Oxford man Saturday they say stole expensive electronic equipment from Clarkston High School while his son competed in a wrestling tournament Feb. 2.
Todd Lloyd Griffin, 38, was arraigned in 52-2 District Court Tuesday. Although he lives in Oxford, his son attends and wrestles for Lake Orion High School.
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Department first learned of the theft when CHS teacher Doug Slater arrived at school around 7a.m. Monday, Feb. 4 and discovered a cabinet in his classroom had been pried open ? six laptop computers, two cameras, and a box containing several hundred dollars in cash were missing from inside.
The thief even unbolted a projector from the ceiling, and used plastic bins from the classroom to carry the ill-gotten goods to his car.
‘He got out of there with a lot of stuff,? said Sgt. Matt Baldes, of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Independence Township substation, noting preliminary information supplied by the school put the stolen merchandise at an estimated value of about $15,000.
According to Baldes, the thief entered the school’s kitchen through an unlocked back door and proceeded into areas of the building otherwise gated off from the gym area, where Clarkston was hosting wrestlers and spectators from ten different schools in the Macomb/Oakland County Duals.
The man shows up numerous times on surveillance video, said Baldes, where he is seen checking doors in different areas of the school and show him loading the stolen equipment into a vehicle.
Police sent video footage to each of the nine visiting schools, and got a lucky break on Friday when Lake Orion High School’s Athletic Director, Bill Reiss, recognized the man as the father of one of the school’s wrestlers.
Deputies arrested Griffin just as he walked outside to light a cigarette Saturday at a wrestling event at the high school.
During a follow-up investigation, police found an empty storage bin and a Canon camera box in the trunk of Griffin’s car, and other identifiable objects in his home.
Griffin’s wife told officers she had no knowledge of the merchandise and that ‘her husband brings home electronic items all the time.?
According to police, Griffin has a prior criminal record.