Published: August 18, 2006 04:32 am      

Jesus portrait at Bridgeport High stolen

Security cameras catch images of the intruder

BRIDGEPORT — The man who took down the “Jesus Portrait” at Bridgeport High School lopes into view on surveillance videotapes.

It’s 3:41 a.m. Thursday, but there’s enough available and direct light for several ceiling-mounted cameras to capture his audacious strike.

He hurries past the camera focused on a row of pop machines. They give off a brilliant white flare, their superpop-colored fronts gleaming brightly in an otherwise shadowy hall.

In the school cafeteria, he sticks close to a wall underneath a camera in a corner of the ceiling. Half of the large space is well lit; the other is less so. The wide-angle view shows only his back as he emerges on the side of the screen. He angles toward the hall leading to the principal’s office.

Outside the principal’s office, he doesn’t hesitate. He lifts the picture — a print, actually — by its frame from the wall, then takes a different hallway on his way out of the building. The hallway goes straight to a door that opens at the rear of the building.

From the tapes and other evidence, Bridgeport police detectives said Thursday afternoon they have 15 pieces of evidence, including the picture frame which was found discarded outside the school. Police are now filling in the blanks in their portrait of the unknown intruder.

Detectives Mike Lemley and Gary Weaver said Thursday afternoon they know:

• The thief used a rock to break a window in the rear of the school, in the area of the technical education wing, to get into the building. He stepped on a metal folding chair to reach the window, which is only about 16-18 inches high, but is several feet wide.

• They have DNA, although they’re not identifying its source. The man was seen by an outside surveillance camera wearing a white sweatshirt while leaving the school. He apparently used it as a protective blanket against the shards of broken glass while crawling through the window to get into the school.

• The thief is a white man, about 5-7 and weighing between 220 and 250 pounds.

“We believe he is or was a Bridgeport High School student,” Detective Lemley said because of his knowledge of the camera system.

• He may have a buzz cut. His hair is a shade of brown.

• Inside the school, he was wearing tan cargo pants and a green T-shirt. He also had on a white toboggan-like hat or beanie with several stripes.

• He got into the building about 3:41 a.m. and left it about 3:45 a.m., for a total of about four minutes inside the building.

“This person took every precaution to avoid showing his face on the video,” Lemley said. The thief pulled his toboggan down and also pulled the front of his T-shirt up over his mouth and nose while passing the soda pop machines, for example.

He also “went straight out the building,” he said. The thief knew then that only his back was visible to the closest surveillance camera, Lemley said.

Detective Weaver said a police tracking dog was later able to follow the intruder’s retreat for a short distance.

Police are asking for public help in finding the thief. Anyone with knowledge of the crime can call the city police department at 842-8200.

E-mail Bill Byrd at bbyrd@timeswv.com.