San Angelo ISD Employee Indicted for Stealing From Middle School

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

Cory Oliver, 37, of San Angelo, was indicted by a Tom Green County grand jury for theft after allegedly stealing from Lincoln Middle School.

According to court documents, on May 13, 2024, an employee at Lincoln Middle School contacted San Angelo police about possible criminal mischief at the school. That morning, the employee said she saw items scattered around the library. The items found on the floor were placed on a table for an activity day, and a locked office in the library had been entered. This office had been secured prior to closure for the weekend, and no evidence of forced entry was observed.

The employee did recall leaving the library unlocked by accident on May 10 at around 4 p.m. She also stated she was missing four dollars from a lock box that was in her secured office. No one had consent to take the money or cause a disruption in the library, other than authorized SAISD personnel. This employee also stated the criminal mischief appeared to be staged.

A secretary said that she discovered cash and a check missing from a safe in her locked office on May 13. Additional cash that was kept in a desk drawer was also missing, and the cash was present on Friday, May 10, at about 5 p.m. before she left the school. There was also no evidence of forced entry into this room either.

The secretary returned to the school on May 13. The lock on the safe appeared to be tighter than normal, but there was no forced entry. The amounts missing were a check in the amount of $2,429.25, and cash in the amounts of $160, $100, $290, $500, and $300. A stop was placed on the check, and it has not been cashed.

Investigators spoke with the principal of Lincoln Middle School, who went to the school to retrieve a personally owned barbecue grill that was inside the library on May 11 around 2 p.m. He entered through the west side library door. He stated that he did not see any disturbance at the time and left shortly thereafter but did not realize he had set off the alarm. The principal did not learn of any criminal mischief for missing funds until 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 and then was seen leaving the library at 2:08 p.m. with the barbecue 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, had 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 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 individuals 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, 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.

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 was released on May 23, 2024, on $20,000 bond. He is next due in court on Nov. 6, 2024.