A local man allegedly broke into Hill-Gustat Middle School last Friday and stole three Chromebooks along with $530 in cash.
Highlands County Sheriff’s detectives identified Joseph Dunihue Jr. as the suspect and have since charged him with unarmed burglary of a structure, grand theft, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, possession/trafficking of a gram or more of LSD and possession of synthetic cannabinoids.
He was also charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, reports said. Deputies, while searching his home, found a .32-caliber firearm shaped like a pen. It had a spent .32-caliber shell cashing in it, indicating that it was operational.
Deputies also found mushrooms, which they suspect to contain psilocybin, a schedule 1 narcotic. They were sent off to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) crime lab for testing.
If the mushrooms test positive, Dunihue could also face a trafficking charge for them, arrest reports said.
The burglary took place on the night of Friday, May 19, and into the early morning hours of Saturday, May 20. He allegedly took three Acer Chromebooks, which were blue and black, $530 in cash, an Anker Soundcore Boost Bluetooth speaker and a USB barcode scanner.
Video surveillance recordings from the school showed a suspect carrying a black bag, someone detectives recognized as Dunihue. They found him in a hotel on U.S. 27.
When they met and talked with him, reports said, Dunihue said he blacked out Friday night and did not remember some details of that night. He said he woke up in a field off Thunderbird Road beside a black bag that had two computers and other items inside it.
Dunihue told deputies he contacted a person named “Brian” to tell him he’d left some items in a field. He told deputies he didn’t know if Brian had brought the items to his hotel room or put them under a trailer off Thunderbird Road.
Arrest reports indicated Dunihue admitted to drinking and taking a substance, which reports had redacted.
Deputies obtained a search warrant to look for two missing Acer Chromebooks, the missing Bluetooth speaker, the barcode scanner, illegal narcotics and cash.
Reports said they found three Chromebooks with power cords — one with the Hill-Gustat barcode sticker still attached — the speaker and the barcode scanner, also marked with “Hill-Gustat Middle School.”
They also found an NEC brand projector in a black bag, labeled “HGM” and “Room 607,” but no cash, reports said. Total value of the stolen property was more than $750.
Deputies also found drugs, reports said: 9.1 grams of LSD, 57.4 grams of what appeared to be psilocybin mushrooms, a gram of Alprazolam, 6.5 grams of Dronabinol (synthetic THC) without a prescription, and various drug paraphernalia items.
Reports said deputies also found a locked metal safe that, when opened, contained the LSD, mushrooms, Dronabinol and the pen-shaped firearm.
Reports indicate that Dunihue made statements, but those statements were redacted.
