BEEVILLE (Kiii News) -
Beeville police have arrested one of the suspects believed to be responsible for the burglary of Moreno Middle School last week.
Police said the burglary caused more than $100,000 worth of damage, and has sent a scare throughout the community.
According to police, it was a tip that came in to Crime Stoppers that led to the arrest of 19-year old Jonathan Cadena at an address in Beeville. Cadena was charged with possession of a firearm by a felon and violation of parole for reportedly failing to register as a sex offender.
Police said he will soon face the additional charges of burglary of a building and criminal mischief.
All four suspects were caught on surveillance video at Moreno Middle School in the early morning hours of Tuesday of last week. Police said the suspects went class to class, vandalizing everything in sight, and stealing money and valuable electronics.
"This is someone that resides, you know, he lives in the community," said Lt. Richard Cantu, Jr., of the Beeville Police Department. "I believe he was born and raised here in Beeville. Some of the officers have dealt with him in the past, so when we discovered, when we were informed that it might have been this individual, yes, we had an idea who it was, and yes, we knew more or less where to go."
Police believe the suspects may have used rocks to smash a classroom window in order to gain entry, before rummaging through classroom drawers, breaking into snack vending machines and cash registers in search of money, and allegedly taking 13 laptops. At the time, police described the scene saying it was like "a tornado had gone through the school."
Beeville police say the U.S. Marshals out of Corpus Christi helped them apprehend Cadena, and will help them in apprehending the other three suspects that are out there. Police expect to make those arrests in coming days.
