On Jan. 29, around 1:45 a.m., six students entered and burglarized DGN using a closed, unlocked window to enter room 160 and a previously stolen key to enter the rest of the building.

According to an anonymous student involved with the break-in, the students were contacted approximately two weeks after the burglary. While they all were wearing items to mask their identity, school officials were able to identify one of the students.

While at the school, the students entered and used the equipment in the White Gym, used golf carts in the underground track and played basketball in the purple gym. The group also made a trip to the cafeteria, where various items were stolen.

In an interview with Public Information Officer for the Downers Grove Police Department David Bormann, Omega learned that 48 cans of energy drink, an empty cash box and file cabinet keys were reported stolen. A beverage cooler was reported damaged.

Not all the students were involved in stealing the entirety of the items. In an anonymous Omega interview, a student reported stealing one or two cans of pop. Later on, while the group was playing basketball,some broke off to do other things, including stealing other items.

According to the anonymous student involved in the break-in, members of the group were given different consequences, varying from three days of out-of school-suspension to three days of out-of-school suspension as well as two days of in-school suspension. Possible police consequences are pending, according to principal Janice Schwarze.

Had the students simply entered the building, the case would have been considered a criminal trespass on school grounds, according to Bormann. However, the students trespassed on the school grounds by entering the building, and performed a theft. Therefore, according to state law, the incident is considered a burglary.

“This is an after-hours incident, which is rare,” Bormann said. “This kind of burglary is not common at all.”
However, the student involved believes that an after-hours incident like this may have happened before, with the same set of keys that were used in this situation. These keys may have been passed down, and possibly used for a similar type of break-in. After the students were identified, the keys were returned.

“Staff was reminded of the protocol to report missing keys as soon as possible to prevent security breaches from happening in the future,” Director of Communications Jill Browning said in an emailed statement to the Omega.

As of March 7, this is an ongoing investigation. It has been handed over to the Downers Grove Police Department.