Man charged in theft at day care

A Carson City man has been charged in connection with the Jan. 9 break-in of a day-care center.

William Allen Griffin, 37, already in custody on five felony counts of burglary stemming from a series of breakin-ins at Artichoke's Poker Palace in the 2200 block of South Carson Street, was charged Wednesday with felony possession and selling of stolen property.

According to Carson City Sheriff's Department reports, Griffin sold numerous video tapes to three separate pawn shops in Carson City. The videos were all marked with either "Little Tikes" or "LT" written inside the cases.

Little Tikes Child Care Center was burglarized in early January. Eighty children's videos, 42 children's music CDs, two portable stereos and a sleeping bag were taken. The morning after the thefts, owner Carrie Henson found a pillowcase in the yard with all of the stolen CDs and 13 of the videos inside. When reporting the theft, she told authorities the videos were marked with the center's name.

A pawn dealer said when she questioned Griffin about "Little Tikes" written in the cases, he told her that's what he and his wife called their children, the report states.

Griffin has allegedly admitted to all five casino burglaries, but has not admitted a connection with the day-care center burglary.

According to the report, Griffin said he found the videos in a field behind the Nevada State Railroad Museum.

With the help of donations from parents and Les Schwab Tire Center, Henson has replaced the videos and added more to the collection.

Griffin is awaiting a hearing on the suspected burglaries of Artichoke's Poker Palace.

On Jan. 27, Feb. 1, Feb. 8 and Feb. 16, a total of $2,500 was stolen from the casino after business hours.

Griffin was caught running from the casino around 2 a.m. on Feb. 18. The owner of the business had recently installed an alarm and surveillance and was alerted to the break-in, said Chief Deputy Scott Burau.

He is being held on a $125,000 bail for all six charges.