A man police say secretly recorded students and teachers in a bathroom at Sunset Ridge School remains at large, a month after he fled the Northfield campus.
District officials this week said they are taking immediate action to protect the school community. Meanwhile, a police report released Thursday in response to a public records request details the tense moments Jan. 14 when David Garcia-Espinal, 40, of Highwood, fled from the school upon discovering authorities had located a hidden cellphone he allegedly planted in a bathroom garbage can.
A felony warrant was issued last month for the arrest of Garcia-Espinal, who was employed as a custodian and food service worker by two companies that had contracts with the Northfield school at 525 Sunset Ridge Road, which serves students in fourth through eighth grade.
According to the police report, officers viewed surveillance video from the school that showed Garcia-Espinal entering and exiting a second floor bathroom numerous times Jan. 14.
Around 4 p.m., a school staff member is seen on camera leaving the bathroom with a garbage can in her hand, at which point Garcia-Espinal is seen following “her path down the school hallway away from the bathroom,” according to the police report.
“Further video review shows footage of (Garcia-Espinal) then running through the hallway after following (the staff member) walking away from the bathroom,” the police report states.
Garcia-Espinal is then later seen on surveillance footage leaving the school building from a rear exit shortly after 4 p.m., getting into a silver sedan and driving away from the school parking lot, according to the police report.
After police examined the bathroom’s garbage can, they found a phone duct taped to the side of the can with its camera lens pointing through a hole, according to the report.
Aside from the initial incident report, the majority of the Northfield police report was redacted. Police said the redactions are due to confidential information, such as the names of victims who were interviewed by police and other details that could compromise the ongoing investigation.
Northfield police also declined to comment on whether they have sought assistance from other law enforcement agencies, including the FBI or the U.S. Marshals Service, to help the local department with their investigation and search for Garcia-Espinal.
Sunset Ridge School District 29 Superintendent Ed Stange has said district officials are attempting to determine why Garcia-Espinal’s previous criminal record went undetected in two independent background checks conducted by vendors OrganicLife and Smith Maintenance Company, both of which employed Garcia-Espinal.
According to police and court records, Garcia-Espinal was charged in 2012 with felony possession of fraudulent ID cards and disorderly conduct in connection with alleged lewd conduct in a women’s restroom at a Glenview movie theater.
In a Feb. 11 letter to District 29 parents, students and staff, school board president Adelbert Spaan delivered a message to the Sunset Ridge community.
“District 29 never dreamed of facing the violation we learned of on January 14,” Spaan wrote. “Someone betrayed the privacy of our community.”
Spaan said in the wake of the incident, district officials have “acted expeditiously and with purpose. Certain actions to address the immediacy of this incident and additional actions to protect our school community have already been made.”
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The incident has also prompted district administrators and the school board to “examine current practices and consider if further changes are required,” Spaan said.
During a closed session conversation at the Feb. 11 school board meeting, officials also discussed an internal investigation that is being conducted by the school district’s attorneys, which Spaan said will be followed by a plan to, “formulate appropriate actions.”
“While some changes can be made quickly, others might take time to implement, but as a board we are committed to see this through,” Spaan said, adding: “These last 28 days have been tough on all of us and our community. I am confident that this difficult period will create a strengthened resolve for our community, to uphold our district as the model district we are and strive to be for our children, staff and community.”
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