Barrington H.S. students charged in iPhone theft

Editor's note: Anne M. Koehlinger had her record expunged in May of 2015.

Two Barrington High School students are facing felony theft charges after stealing six iPhones from a gym locker room during physical education class, according to police.

Anne M. Koehlinger, 18, of South Barrington and Mariela Lara Rojas, 17, of Carpentersville planned the theft the night before Lara Rojas's first period gym class on Oct. 27, said Barrington Police Detective Sgt. Kevin Croke.

Police said the suspects knew the school's procedure of checking the locker room for students and locking the doors before the start of class, but Koehlinger hid in a bathroom stall undetected.

“She admitted to hiding in a bathroom stall, put her feet up so nobody could see her, waited for the doors to be locked and rifled through several lockers until she found the six phones,” Croke said.

The six students whose phones were missing from their backpacks reported the theft to a physical education teacher, who realized someone must have been hiding in the bathroom.

School administrators watched surveillance video from the first hour of the day and noticed Koehlinger and Lara Rojas walk into the locker room, but Koehlinger did not exit until the end of class, Croke said.

“Lara Rojas did have first hour P.E., but co-conspired,” Croke said. “She told her (Koehlinger) that in her first hour P.E. class the girls are always in a hurry so they don't lock their lockers.”

After the theft, the two girls met in a bathroom and Koehlinger let Lara Rojas take her pick of the six phones, according to police.

Koehlinger and Lara Rojas were arrested in school that day, and the Lake County state's attorney's office authorized six felony theft charges against each.

Because of the seriousness of the crime, Lara Rojas was charged as an adult, Croke said.