KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A thief was caught on camera trying to blend in with students to steal from a local school.
Police are investigating after surveillance video captured a man walking into Plaza Academy and stealing from a classroom.
"It was almost like he knew where he was going, although I've never seen him before," said Ward Worley, Executive Director of Plaza Academy.
Worley said the incident happened Thursday during the morning rush to school. A student noticed the hooded man walk into a classroom on the second floor. The student went to alert the office, but by the time he came back with Worley, the man had already walked out of the school.
Worley said all of this happened in a matter of two minutes.
In the video, you can see the man come in through the back door that was propped open for kids to get into the school. After quickly checking out their security system, he walked upstairs and into a science classroom. You can see him looking around before eventually taking things off of the teacher's desk.
"He ended up taking our science teacher's cell phone, her speaker, and a couple of other items off of her desk," said Worley.
The man also got away with the teachers debit card and cash.
The school posted the surveillance video and pictures to its Facebook Page. Several people have seen it and commented on the post, saying they believe the man has targeted the Westport area before.
"We have absolutely shared that video with the police. We think we know who this person is," said Worley.
As police investigate, Plaza Academy said they've made some security changes. From now on, the back door of the school will remain locked and everyone must come through the front entrance.
In the nine years Worley has worked at the school, he said nothing like this has ever happened before.
