ST. LOUIS – Dozens of iPads were stolen in the middle of the night during a brazen burglary, leaving St. Louis election officials rushing to lock down private information.
Investigators with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department reported 37 iPads stolen from the St. Louis Board of Elections Commissions Office, located on Tucker Boulevard in downtown St. Louis, according to a probable cause statement filed with the court.
St. Louis Board of Elections Commissioners Democratic Director Ben Borgmeyer said it’s an isolated incident and it has nothing to do with the elections.
“We reviewed our security footage,” Borgmeyer said. “All indications seem to show it was an isolated, kind of random act of vandalism.”
A probable cause statement reveals three individuals used a key fob to gain access.
Borgmeyer said the stolen iPads are used as poll books and are what voters use to check in at the polls.
“Immediately upon noticing those were the items, we contacted the vendor that provides that service and they were immediately able to brick the iPads, which essentially makes them a piece of plastic,” Borgmeyer said.
The commission said no private voter information was stolen.
Borgmeyer said the stolen equipment will not compromise the integrity of the elections but security changes have been made.
“There’s a fob system that allows access to doors. Basically, the negligence of the landlord and the fob system allowed access,” Borgmeyer said. “Since then, we’ve taken steps as far as fob access. We physically control those spaces now with physical lock and key.”
FOX 2 reached out to the landlord but has not heard back as of this publication.
Court records reveal Marion Dukes, 19, sold one of the stolen iPads at a Walmart. Police claim Dukes admitted to being involved in the theft.
Dukes has been charged with two counts of burglary and two counts of stealing something more than $750.
Police took Dukes into custody two days before Christmas while allegedly trying to break into cars.
Dukes’ court-appointed attorney tried to argue for his release to a GPS ankle monitor but the judge did not budge. She ordered the teen to be held in custody without bond.
