More than $50,000 in items owned by the Lee County school district have been recovered after an investigation into an ongoing theft at 1311 James Ave. in Lehigh. According to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, they were called by a woman on Tuesday, April 27 who said there was an unfamiliar vehicle parked in her neighbor’s driveway. She said she was watching individuals taking items from the home and putting them in a vehicle. She was able to give a description of the suspects and the vehicle.

Responding deputies located the vehicle as it was leaving the area, officials said. A traffic stop was conducted and there was property in the vehicle that matched the items the caller had seen being removed from the home. The homeowner and victim, Darren D. Wilkins, was contacted and positively identified the property as his. Arrested for burglary and grand theft as a result of this incident were: Isiah Powell, 17; Andre Taylor, 17, and William Ruse, 16.

Investigators said that as detectives were recovering property from the vehicle, it was observed that some of the items were consistent with property being used in Lee County schools. Darren D. Wilkins is a tech specialist with the Lee County School District and upon further investigation, it was revealed that these items were in fact property of the School District of Lee County and the property had been taken from two different schools.

Detectives obtained search warrants on the home and vehicle of Darren D. Wilkins. During the service of these warrants, 107 pieces of computer and electronic equipment belonging to the School Board of Lee County were recovered. Among the items recovered were multiple computers, projectors, and monitors. Some of the items were brand new and still in the box. One of the items recovered was a large industrial network router valued at $10,000. The total value of items recovered is still being tallied but is estimated to exceed $50,000, investigators said.

Darren D. Wilkins, 39 was charged with two counts of grand theft. He was booked into the Lee County Jail.