Long after the football game and homecoming festivities were over, burglars broke into the athletic director’s office at Wheaton North High School and made off with a 500-pound safe containing $10,000 in gate receipts and up to $70,000 in athletic-fee checks, police said.
Police said Tuesday they were not eliminating anyone as suspects, including students and staff, but they knew the burglars were targeting the safe during the weekend break-in. Other expensive computer equipment and compact disc players near the safe were untouched.
“It obviously was a planned burglary. The mere fact that they were able to get away with a 500-pound safe. Well, it doesn’t appear to be a high school prank,” said Wheaton Police Detective Bill Cooley. “Timing is everything.”
The theft was discovered Monday around 5:30 a.m. when a custodian unlocking the building discovered broken glass in the hallway near an entryway and the athletic director’s office.
School officials say the money was stolen sometime between 11:45 p.m. Sunday and early Monday.
DuPage County Crime Stoppers announced a $1,000 reward Tuesday for information that leads to the arrest of a suspect or suspects involved in stealing the safe, which is 2 1/2 feet high and 2 feet wide.
The stadium, which holds 3,500, was packed and gate receipts surged, partly because of the pleasant weather during Friday night’s homecoming football game.
Admission fees are deposited directly into the school’s athletic budget and pay for sports equipment.
But stolen money will not affect students directly because equipment already has been purchased this year.
School officials hope that an additional football game already scheduled this season will enable them to recoup some of the money.
“We hope that’ll offset [the burglary],” said Principal Jill Bullo.
Parents were instructed to stop payment on the personal checks, which average about $100 and covered athletic fees for students who participate in sports, Bullo said.
A couple Wheaton-area banks that are aware of the burglary have waived the check-cancellation fee for parents whose checks were stolen, Bullo said.
