San Angelo ISD Employee Arrested for Stealing from Middle School

SAN ANGELO, TX — A San Angelo Independent School District employee has been arrested for allegedly stealing money from a San Angelo school.

Cory Wayne Oliver, 37, a maintenance worker at SAISD, has been arrested for Burglary of a Building.

According to the arrest affidavit, on May 13, 2024, a San Angelo police officer was notified by a library teacher of possible criminal mischief that occurred at the Lincoln Middle School, located at 255 Lake View Heroes Drive.

The teacher told officers items had been placed on the tables on May 10, 2024, for an activity day. When teachers came back to school on May 13, the items for the activity day had been scattered across the room. Also found were beads, that were in a plastic tub, scattered in the server AV room, which is adjacent to the library.

The teacher then discovered a locked office in the library had been entered and an apple had been smashed into the wall. In the same room, hand sanitizer had been smeared all over a laptop. This room had been secured prior to the school’s closure for the weekend and no evidence of forced entry was observed.

On May 10, the teacher recalled leaving the library unlocked by accident at around 4:00 p.m. and that she was missing $4.00 from a lock box that was located in her secured office. The teacher said that no one had consented to take the money or even enter the school with the exception of authorized SAISD personnel. Then, the teacher said that the criminal mischief appeared to be staged.

Investigators spoke with an employee at Lincoln Middle School and learned that on May 13, 2024, she discovered cash and a check missing from a safe in her locked office closet. The employee advised that her office closet and the safe were locked and secured. Also, additional cash was missing from a bank bag that was in a desk drawer.

Both the cash and the check were present in their respective locations when the employee left the school on Friday, May 10, around 5 p.m. No evidence of forced entry was observed to either the room that contained the safe.

When the employee returned to school on May 13, the combination lock of the safe was noted to be tighter than normal but there was no forced entry to the safe. The check that was taken was identified and endorsed with the amount of $2,429.25 and the approximate sum value of the cash taken totaled $1,050. This was made up of $160 taken from a plastic, white, bank deposit bag inside the school mail folder, $100 from a medical bag, $290 from the bottom safe shelf, and $500 from a black box within the safe. $300 from a library bank bag was also stolen from her desk drawer. A stop was put on the check and it had not been cashed. A clear bank bag used to organize the various funds was also missing.

The principal spoke with investigators and said he had been present at Lincoln Middle School on Saturday, May 11, at around 2:06 p.m. He was there to retrieve a personally owned BBQ grill that was located inside the library. He said that he entered the school through the west side library exterior exit door to get the grill, which was near the door.

The principal did not see anything disturbed in the library during his time there. He did however unknowingly set off the alarm when he left at 2:08 p.m. He also did not learn of criminal mischief or stolen money until his return to the school on May 13.

The investigator was provided access by the principal to security footage of the campus. The footage was reviewed, and the principal was observed entering the school at 2:06 p.m. on May 11, 2024, and then was seen leaving the library at 2:08 p.m. with the BBQ grill.

The footage showed the defendant, identified as Oliver, as the maintenance worker who responded to the alarm. Oliver, as an SAISD key carrier for the alarm, would have a master key to get into all locked doors in the school.

Oliver was seen in the footage entering the school through the north main entrance at 2:56 p.m. and he did not depart until 3:34 p.m. He was observed to be wearing shorts, and a blue t-shirt, and he was on his cell phone. No bulges or anything sticking out of his pockets were seen as he entered the school.

In the 38 minutes Oliver was at the school, he proceeded to the teacher’s workroom where he clocked in on the time clock located in the room. Then, Oliver was seen walking to the main hallway towards the AV room, which contained the alarm panel to turn off the alarm.

Instead of going into the AV room, Oliver entered an unlocked classroom next to the AV room only to exit back into the hallway a short time later then he entered the AV room at 3:00 p.m.

Nineteen minutes later, Oliver was observed back in the hallway.

During a walkthrough of the school, the investigator learned that the rooms were interconnected and that the path taken from the AV room to the classroom would have to include going through the library.

Following Oliver’s re-entry into the hallway, he again went into the AV room. Oliver was in the AV room for three minutes before exiting to walk towards the teacher work area to clock out. He was in that area for a few seconds before entering the lobby receptionist's exit door. Oliver was in this area for around 11 minutes before he left from the secretary’s hallway and departed the receptionist’s entry door back into the lobby entrance.

This location granted access to the secure rooms targeted during the course of the burglary.

When Oliver was leaving, he was observed to have bulges in both of his front pockets and an item sticking out of his right front pocket which resembled the description of the bank bag that was missing from the school safe.

Additional footage from the school did not show any other individual present at the campus following Oliver’s response and no other party was found to make entry into the campus until Monday, May 13.

On May 15, 2024, a non-custodial interview with Oliver was conducted and he agreed to speak with investigators. Oliver confirmed that he was the on-call key carrier for all alarms involving San Angelo ISD schools and he responded to Lincoln Middle School on May 11, 2024.

Oliver told investigators he was at the school for about 13-15 minutes and only went into the AV room, the teacher's work area, and the receptionist’s office. He claimed that at no time did he make entry into the library which the investigator recognized as inconsistent with security footage.

Oliver was advised of the inconsistencies in his story.

When asked in regard to the bulges in his pockets observed in the footage, Oliver allegedly stated that they were caused by his work cellphone. In the footage, Oliver had his phone in his hand during his time at the school.

He refuted this and claimed he made no use of his phone during his response to the school.

Oliver also allegedly claimed that he made no observations of criminal mischief.

The interview ultimately concluded with the investigator finding Oliver’s statements inaccurate and untruthful.

Oliver was arrested on May 22, 2024, and he was booked into the Tom Green County Jail and is being held without bond.