A 71-year-old man was found hiding behind a locked office door inside Reginald F. Lewis High School in Northeast Baltimore, discovered with a bag of burglary tools and electronics that belonged to the school's principal, according to police. Wardell Richardson now faces both felony and misdemeanor burglary charges after the overnight discovery.
School police responded to a burglary alarm at the school on the night of August 23, according to WBFF. Officers arriving at the campus, located at 6401 Pioneer Drive, found signs that someone had been inside a locked office, and according to charging documents, they located Richardson hiding behind the office door itself. The school's basketball coach's office had also been damaged, with its plexiglass broken out.
Officers searched Richardson and found a bag stashed behind a desk containing burglary tools and suspected stolen property. Inside were two black iPhones, a stolen iPad Pro and stylus, and wireless earbuds, along with pliers and two screwdrivers. The school's principal later told officers that the items belonged to her.
Charges Span Felony and Misdemeanor Counts
Police charged Richardson with second-degree burglary of a storehouse belonging to Baltimore City Public Schools, a felony that under Maryland Criminal Law § 6-203 carries a maximum sentence of up to 15 years in prison for breaking into a non-dwelling facility such as a public school with intent to commit theft, according to Antonoplos & Associates. He also faces fourth-degree burglary of a storehouse and fourth-degree burglary with burglar's tools, misdemeanor offenses that each carry a potential penalty of up to three years in prison under Maryland Criminal Law § 6-205, per the Law Offices of Alex Poberesky.
Police additionally charged Richardson with stealing items valued between $1,500 and $25,000, a felony that under Maryland Criminal Law § 7-104 is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000, according to DearLegal. Richardson also faces charges of destroying and defacing Baltimore City Public Schools property and trespassing on school property. He was taken to the Baltimore Booking & Intake Facility. It was not immediately clear whether Richardson is homeless.
Part of a Broader Pattern of Overnight Break-Ins
The arrest at Reginald F. Lewis High School, named after the Baltimore native who became the first African American to build a billion-dollar business enterprise, adds to a recorded wave of overnight break-ins and property crimes targeting Baltimore City Public Schools campuses throughout 2025 and 2026, as Hoodline previously reported. In a related case, school police arrested 20-year-old Raymond Causion on the roof of Curtis Bay Elementary School on July 24, where he was found hiding with a backpack containing burglary tools and food from the school cafeteria, including four bread cakes, multiple frozen pizzas, a 20-ounce bottle of red Gatorade, Dubble Bubble gum, two 12-ounce bottles of Pepsi and a bag of candy. Charging documents allege Causion was one of six people captured on camera pillaging the elementary school at night, and he told officers he took the food because he was homeless.
Other recent incidents point to the same strain on district security. School police investigated an overnight break-in attempt at the Baltimore Design School last month after security personnel discovered two exterior entrance doors had been tampered with. In January, a copper theft at Yorkwood Elementary School in Loch Raven severely damaged rooftop HVAC equipment, forcing a temporary shutdown due to a loss of heating and water services. Vandals also broke multiple large rear windows at Walter P. Carter Elementary/Middle School in North Baltimore during a November overnight incident that triggered a police investigation.
Motives Vary Across Recent Cases
The Baltimore City Schools Police Department, a dedicated law enforcement agency employing sworn officers and civilian staff tasked with protecting district facilities, has handled each of these investigations rather than municipal police, according to Public Sector Search & Consulting. Taken together, the incidents reveal a tension in what's driving people onto campus grounds after hours: some cases, like the Reginald F. Lewis arrest, involve targeted theft of electronics, while others, like Causion's, point to homelessness and food insecurity among suspects going after cafeteria supplies rather than valuables. Richardson's case remains under investigation as it moves through the court system.
