WASHINGTON – Tyree Irving, 20, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today to two years in prison for breaking into two elementary schools and a barber shop within a matter of hours last year, U.S. Attorney Channing D. Phillips announced.
Irving pled guilty in November 2016, in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, to one count of conspiracy to commit burglary and three counts of second-degree burglary. He was sentenced by the Honorable Neal E. Kravitz. Following his prison term, Irving will be placed on three years of supervised release.
According to the government’s evidence, in the early morning of April 2, 2016, officers from the District of Columbia Public Schools and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) responded to break-ins at two different schools.
First, officers responded to Barnard Elementary School, in the 400 block of Decatur Street NW. Individuals had broken a window to get into the school and removed a multi-unit Apple Macbook / iPad charging unit and wheeled it outside. These individuals also stole 14 D.C. Public School iPads, two iMac computers, two keyboards, and two mice. Video surveillance showed four young males wearing masks walking throughout the empty school at approximately 1:40 a.m., carrying varying pieces of electronic equipment, including the charging unit.
Officers then responded to Houston Elementary School, in the 1100 block of 50th Place NE. Individuals had broken a window to get into the school and stole a personal laptop from a teacher, as well as a laptop and iPad that belonged to D.C. Public Schools. Video surveillance showed three young males wearing masks walking and running throughout the empty school at approximately 2:50 a.m., carrying varying pieces of electronic equipment. The individuals on the video surveillance in Barnard Elementary and the individuals on the video surveillance in Houston Elementary appear, with the exception of one missing person, to be the same.
Outside of Houston Elementary School, police discovered a van that was still running with its ignition punched out. Inside the van, police located a revolver, as well as multiple pieces of equipment stolen from Barnard Elementary, including two iMac computers, four keyboards, four mice, and multiple iPads. Police learned that the van was stolen the previous night.
In a separate investigation, police learned of another break-in early April 2, 2016 at a barber shop in the 800 block of Rhode Island Avenue NW. Burglars there took two Apple keyboards and two Apple mice. This burglary took place at 2:07 a.m.
Police and members of the District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences (DFS) processed the crime scenes and the van. DFS collected latent fingerprints from the items recovered inside of the van. Irving later was linked to several items, including an Apple iMac monitor stolen from Barnard Elementary School, a computer mouse, and an apple keyboard with number pad stolen from Barnard Elementary School.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Phillips commended the work of the Metropolitan Police Department. He also expressed appreciation for the assistance of the District of Columbia Public Schools and the Latent Fingerprint Unit of the District of Columbia Department of Forensic Sciences. He acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gregory Rosen and Jillian Willis, who investigated and prosecuted the matter.