Burglar targeted elementary school teachers in Marin, Alameda, Contra Costa counties: sheriff

(KRON) — A “prolific elementary school burglar” who targeted teachers on school campuses in Marin, Alameda, and Contra Costa counties was found and arrested this week, law enforcement officials said.

Christopher Britton, 34, of Fairfield, has a long history of lurking around schools, stealing bank cards from teachers’ purses, and racking up thousands of dollars of fraudulent charges, investigators said.

In February, Britton targeted an elementary school in Marin County while teachers and students were busy with a school-wide assembly, investigators said.

“Following the assembly, several teachers discovered bank cards were missing from their wallets (and) purses stored inside their classrooms. The teachers soon received thousands of dollars of fraudulent charges on their stolen bank cards,” the Marin County Sheriff’s Office wrote.

During its investigation into Britton for the February incident, deputies discovered that he burglarized three more schools in Marin County, “victimizing many more teachers,” MCSO wrote.

“Britton was also found to have committed nearly identical burglaries of elementary schools in Alameda County and Contra Costa County. At the time of the burglaries, Britton was out on bail in Solano County for a series of residential burglaries,” the sheriff’s office wrote.

On April 25, sheriff’s deputies and police officers from several police departments took Britton into custody. He was booked into a Marin County Jail without bail.

The Vacaville Police Department, Lafayette Police Department, Danville Police Department, Marin County Sheriff’s Office, and Dublin Police Services assisted the investigation.