Palma-Garcia
A 20-year-old man is facing charges after he allegedly broke into a suburban West Palm Beach elementary school twice since last month.
Roberto Palma-Garcia was arrested Monday for allegedly breaking into Westgate Elementary School on April 22 and May 15. He was being held at the Palm Beach County Jail Tuesday in lieu of $9,000 bail. Jail records show that Palma-Garcia lives only a few blocks away from the school, which is south of Okeechobee Boulevard and west of Congress Avenue. He is accused of taking $300 worth of items from the school and causing about $2,000 worth of damage.
The arrest report does not specify what was taken. Palma-Garcia is facing one count each of burglary, petit theft, criminal mischief and trespassing.
Police say that during the most recent break-in he broke a window on the south side of the school’s playground. The break-in occurred at about 8:30 at night, police said. On Monday, school district police officers went to his home and he agreed to go to the police department’s headquarters.
He allegedly admitted to both break-ins. Palma-Garcia reportedly told officers he had keys to the school from the burglary in April, but threw them into a canal near his home. At the time of Palma-Garcia’s arrest, police had not found the keys.
The amount to change the locks and get new keys for the entire school is estimated between $40,000 and $65,000, police said.
