Two sentenced to prison for stealing iPads, laptop computers from nine schools

By City News Service

Two Riverside County men who admitted stealing iPads and other electronic devices from nine San Diego County schools over a two-month period were each sentenced to prison Aug. 16.

Trevor J. Williams, 21, was sentenced to seven years behind bars and Eyon Zimmerman, 19, was sentenced to five years in prison.

Both defendants pleaded guilty last month to burglary charges, and admitted the crimes were committed to benefit their street gang.

A third defendant, 21-year-old Thomas Earl Burleson, was convicted of burglary and other charges at trial and is set to be sentenced next week.

Williams and Burleson are documented gang members and Zimmerman is a known associate, according to Deputy District Attorney Brendan McHugh.

The three were charged with breaking into classrooms at schools in Del Mar Heights, Cardiff, Lakeside and other communities, stealing iPads, laptop computers and other electronics. Authorities said the thefts began last Nov. 18.

Some of the defendants used their cell phones in the area of the schools the nights of the break-ins, according to previous court testimony.

The defendants were arrested Jan. 30 at a Temecula-area Border Patrol checkpoint. The iPads stolen from the Del Mar school earlier that morning or the night before were recovered from the defendants’ car, along with a laptop computer, bolt cutters and a projector, McHugh said.