BUFFALO, N.Y. — Harvey Austin Elementary School is now at the center of an ongoing statewide debate that it asked for no part of.
Buffalo Police announced Wednesday that they had made an arrest in connection to a burglary of the elementary school on Dec. 5.
Larry White, 26, of Buffalo was arrested Tuesday and charged with burglary, criminal mischief and grand larceny.
Buffalo Police said they responded to the K-8 school shortly after 1 a.m. on Dec. 5 after alarms went off and found laptops, iPads and other items had been taken.
School security cameras caught the suspect in the act, allowing authorities to put out a BOLO and ultimately leading to his arrest.
But this break-in was just the latest incident on the 26-year-old’s record.
Police discovered 17 other outstanding warrants for his arrest across several municipalities like Lockport, Amherst, Cheektowaga and West Seneca.
“That's a problem,” Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia said. “I mean, this is a repeat offender. Clearly, it’s a problem.”
Gramaglia said this problem has existed since New York’s bail reform laws went into place in January 2020.
The original intention of the state’s bail reform was to level the playing field and prevent non-violent, low-level offenders from sitting in jail because of their financial status — something the commissioner says he won’t argue.
“Any police chief will tell you that there were provisions of bail reform that had very good intentions and needed to be addressed,” he said.
But he also said bail reform allows for situations like the one at Harvey Austin Elementary with a small percentage of people committing repeat offenses.
“What was not addressed was situations for people like this that are constantly revolving doors through the criminal justice system,” Gramaglia said.
Buffalo Public Schools responded to the news of the arrest in a statement.
“The Buffalo Public Schools thanks the Buffalo Police Department for working to arrest a Buffalo man in connection with a burglary at Harvey Austin Elementary School,” the statement read. “As this is a law enforcement investigation, the district is unable to comment further.“