BREAKING: Former director of school buildings charged with theft of more than $70K of school equipment

Posted 12/23/15

David LaPlante, who started with the Warwick School Department as the energy supervisor 10 years ago and was promoted to director of buildings and grounds, was arrested Dec. 23 on felony charges for …

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BREAKING: Former director of school buildings charged with theft of more than $70K of school equipment

Posted

David LaPlante, who started with the Warwick School Department as the energy supervisor 10 years ago and was promoted to director of buildings and grounds, was arrested Dec. 23 on felony charges for allegedly stealing more than $70,000 of school equipment and materials.

LaPlante was terminated by the Warwick School Committee shortly after department personnel were unable to reconcile purchase orders earlier this month. LaPlante was on vacation at the time and out of the country.

On Dec. 2, 2015, Superintendent Philip Thornton, along with members of his staff, met with Warwick Police to report irregularities in LaPlante's purchasing patterns. Armed with warrants, police visited the LaPlante home at 100 Fairway Lane on two separate occasions, removing at least four truck loads of equipment and appliances, including a dishwasher.

The police conducted a criminal investigation of the transactions to include an extensive review of purchase

records for the Warwick School Department. A large portion of this equipment was returned to the

Warwick School Department, while the rest is being held by the Warwick Police Department as evidence pending

the resolution of the criminal proceedings.

The total value of the tools and equipment that are alleged to have been misappropriated from the Warwick School Department is approximately $72,662.67, from five separate vendors.

As a result of this investigation, David LaPlante, 48, from 100 Fairway Lane, Warwick, was charged with five felony counts of Wrongful Conversion by Municipal Employee 11-41-27.

LaPlante was arraigned at the Kent County Court House and released on $50,000 surety bail. A screening conference is scheduled with the Department of Attorney General on Feb. 8, 2016.

Comments

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  • Justanidiot

    Can't wait for the teachers to be fired under Wrongful Conversion.

    Metric system, HAH!

    Wednesday, December 23, 2015 Report this

  • Thecaptain

    Who was the Warwick resident that brought the active theft ring to the attention of the mayor and city council 3 years ago and demanded a forensic audit?? Who?? Now the residents should be pissed that his wife, a Warwick school teacher ignored the theft in her own home. Time for her arrest and dismissal. And shes teaching our kids? I would assume her specialty class is Efficiency in Shoplifting, or maybe "How to Conceal Stolen Appliances".

    Wednesday, December 23, 2015 Report this

  • wwkvoter

    Captain, was it you who made those demands you mention? Was it about this particular theft situation? Is that in an email or the official minutes of a meeting? If so, wow..

    Thursday, December 24, 2015 Report this

  • wheelchairman

    Ok I have a few questions

    1) over how many years was this going on? Is this 70k over the 3 years he held the building and grounds director or over a shorter time span?

    2) who in the school department is responsible for the books? Why was this able to go on for so long? The new superintendent was able to figure it out in a few months.

    3) doesn't the school department have an outside audit every year? Again how was this able to go on for so long?

    Dean

    Thursday, December 24, 2015 Report this

  • wwkvoter

    hey didnt the DPW catch someone stealin and they were charged and fired (just like this guy) whatever happen to that one?

    Thursday, December 24, 2015 Report this

  • richardcorrente

    Folks,

    Lets look at the big picture here. Mayor Avedisian has been totally uninvolved in this felony investigation. In fact, he went on vacation...again! This leaves us with only 2 conclusions. 1. He is involved, actively or in a supportive role, in which case he is a criminal and should be removed from office; or 2. He actually didn't see his neighbor stealing tens of thousands of dollars worth of taxpayer-paid tools and equipment right under the Mayors nose, in which case he is incompetent and should be removed from office. In either event I will replace him in the 2016 elections.

    My name is Richard Corrente and I am running for Mayor in 2016. (www.correntemayorwarwick.com)I have been actively campaigning every day for over a year now, and I will be a Mayor that has enough "street knowledge" to recognize when the city is being stolen from and enough courage to call the police when that happens. Avedisians "hands off" policy has enabled this condition to exist in the first place! Kudos to Superintendent of Schools Philip Thornton for having the leadership to report the crime the minute he noticed it. I look forward to working with him in 2016.

    Happy and Healthy New Year to all.

    Richard Corrente

    Democrat for Mayor - 2016

    Saturday, December 26, 2015 Report this