Liberty City School Trying to Bounce Back From Burglary

Thieves took property worth about $33,000 from the Exceptional Development Corporation, which serves special needs students

A Liberty City school that serves special needs students is soldiering on after burglars stole electronics worth about $10,000 – and the school’s van.

The theft happened at the Exceptional Development Corporation at 991 NW 54th St. on Martin Luther King Jr. Day during the parade.

"It's just heartbreaking because here it is that these (are) our children that’s in school, trying to learn, and you're trying to destroy their education,” parent Yolanda McKnight-Jones said.

The small school serves about 100 students, mostly kids with learning disabilities. It also provides life skills training for adults with mental disabilities.

The burglars stole computers, DJ equipment, a video camera and a classroom projector – and then added insult to injury by using the school's van to haul everything away.

"And lifted the bay door and drove the van out!" CEO Michael Faine recounted.

Faine said they just bought the van for $23,000, and the rest of the stolen property was worth about $10,000.

“It's an invasion, obviously, people don't care about who they take from. They rob churches, they rob schools,” Faine said. “It hurts me that we're located here, we’ve been here 12 years in the Liberty City area, and all we’re trying to do is good."

This is the first time the school has been burglarized.

Faine said everyone is working hard to overcome the setback.

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