Barrington computer thieves avoid prison with guilty plea

Two men who police say stole more than $20,000 worth of computer equipment from a Barrington middle school last June were each sentenced to one-year conditional discharge and 120 hours of community service in exchange for pleading guilty to theft last week in a Rolling Meadows courtroom.

As part of the agreement, 20-year-old Nicholas Paul Winters, of the 90 block of Yorkshire Drive in Hanover Park, and 21-year-old Kevin J. Deacon, of the 0-100 block of Taynton Lane in South Barrington, will each pay restitution in the amount of $4,113.

Authorities say the men broke into the Barrington Middle School Prairie Campus on June 21 and June 30 and took 22 computers along with video projectors, monitors, video cameras and other equipment. Police reportedly recovered 15 of the computers.