PD: Teen stole 6 Baldwin Co. MacBooks

DAPHNE, Ala. (WALA) - Daphne police are asking for your help finding a Daphne man who’s wanted on multiple felony warrants. Police said he stole six laptops belonging to the Baldwin County Board of Education. 

High School students in the Baldwin County school system were all issued new Apple MacBook laptops at the beginning of the school year, valued at $1,200 a piece. It’s a lot of responsibility to keep up with and quite a lure to thieves. Daphne police said that 18-year-old Richard Brett Langley stole six of them from students over the Thanksgiving holidays.

Three of the computers belonged to students at Daphne High School. The other three were stolen from students at Gulf Shores, Spanish Fort and Baldwin County High. Cpl. Jason Vanoy with Daphne Police said the suspect knew all of the victims.

“He knew the people, and he knew where the computer would be,” Vanoy said.  “Most of them were taken from homes, but I know at least one of them was taken from a car.”

The computers were recovered from a residence in Grand Bay and returned to the schools. 

Vanoy said an investigator with the Mobile Police Department located the computers while conducting an unrelated investigation of his own.

“And, (I) got the computers from him, from the Mobile detective, and contacted the guy in Mobile who had them in Grand Bay, and he gave me the name of who sold them to him,” said Vanoy.

Richard Langley was the name given to police and he’s not just wanted for the computer thefts.  The Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office also wants Langley for a felony assault charge. 

School officials said that while theft of school computers is rare, they’ve taken measures to protect their property through tracking technology and suggest that students take measures of their own.

“Our suggestion is to make sure you keep your eyes on your technology,” said Baldwin County School System spokesperson Terry Willhite.  “Keep your hands close by it at all times because it is valuable. Someone may want it, and someone may steal it.”

Authorities ask that if you know the whereabouts of Richard Langley, you call the Daphne Police Department or the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office.