REDWOOD CITY — A judge issued a warrant Thursday for a man suspected of stealing $7,800 worth of laptops and iPads from a San Carlos school in April, according to the San Mateo District Attorney’s Office.
Defendant Lawrence Mero failed to appear in court in Redwood City for an initial felony arraignment this morning, San Mateo District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said. Wagstaffe said bail has been set at $100,000.
Mero, a 28-year-old Oakland man, had been out on bail of $25,000, prosecutors said.
Sheriff’s deputies arrested Mero and another man April 27 for allegedly breaking into the Tierra Linda Middle School at 750 Dartmouth Ave. at about 2 a.m.
Prosecutors said deputies saw a suspect in the school’s parking lot when they responded to a burglar alarm at the school.
Prosecutors said they took Mero into custody with help from a police dog after he tried to flee. Deputies took a second man into custody after he tried to hide on the roof of a nearby home, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said they hoisted a police dog onto the roof of the home to capture 36-year-old San Francisco resident Willie Gaffney when he refused to come down off the house.
Deputies found laptops in Gaffney’s car, prosecutors said.
Both men were free on $25,000 bail, according to the district attorney’s office.
Gaffney is set appear in court for an initial felony arraignment Friday at 9 a.m. in Redwood City.