DA: Groundskeeper looted kids' playgrounds

A longtime groundskeeper for the Hempstead schools looted children's playgrounds for scrap metal, leaving more than $50,000 in damage, according to Nassau prosecutors.

Swing sets, climbing bars, fences -- entire playgrounds -- are among the installations stolen by Johnie Tyson, 54, authorities said. He surrendered Wednesday morning to prosecutors and was freed later at his arraignment at First District Court in Hempstead Village. Charges against Tyson include felony criminal mischief and misdemeanor petty larceny.

Tyson -- a supervisor on the job for more than two decades -- is accused of removing, while on duty last year, iron gates, chain-link fencing and other materials from school playgrounds that belong to the Hempstead school district, prosecutors said.

Authorities said he had his crews do much of the demolition during their paid work time, and he drove the stolen items to the scrap yard in a grounds crew truck. No one else has been charged.

The schools affected include the Prospect School, the Barack Obama School and the Marguerite Golden Rhodes School, which is closed.

The district has surveillance "of the crime in action," schools superintendent Patricia Garcia said in a statement. "Mr. Tyson has been administratively reassigned until further notice," Garcia said.

Tyson sold the stolen goods and got "no more than $500," authorities said. Investigators are looking at whether Tyson is responsible for other missing materials, the district attorney's office said.

The school district became suspicious when officials heard a rumor from an equipment supplier about someone seeking to sell a used playground set to a charter school, according to the prosecutor's chief spokesman, John Byrne. The district's internal inquiry showed items were missing and officials referred the case to county prosecutors.

"It was Johnie Tyson's job to keep the Hempstead school grounds safe and attractive for students, and instead he stole their playgrounds for profit," said Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice. "Stealing from kids for personal gain is especially detestable."