Newport Boy with Master Key Stole From Girls Locker Room, Police

NEWPORT, RI—A 16-year-old Newport boy has been charged for allegedly stealing items from the girls locker room at Rogers High School using a school master key.

Police said the boy was arrested Wednesday after an investigation prompted by the disappearance of cash, gift cards and other items from the locker room several times this month.

According to a police report, the boy was identified as a person of interest after another locker room theft occurred on Tuesday—the third incident this month—and several students reported seeing him carrying an item related to the thefts.

During their investigation, police learned that the boy reportedly had been in possession of the master key for some time and had made copies, offering to sell copies to other students. Thefts from the girls locker room, not counting the theft this week, occurred on Jan. 5 and Jan. 9 and each girl told police that money and other items were stolen from their possessions at around the same time of day.

Police noted that they were concerned about the possibility of keys floating around the building and expressed that concern to school officials who agreed to press charges after some internal deliberation.

On Wednesday afternoon, police interviewed the boy in the presence of his mother. He reportedly told police that he found the key on the ground and kept it because he collects keys.

He claimed that he wasn’t aware that the key was a master key and denied stealing anything from the locker room.

But police said the evidence they gathered during the course of their investigation was enough to charge him with three counts of larceny and one count of receiving stolen goods.

The boy was released with a future Family Court date.