Troutdale police yesterday arrested a Reynolds High School custodian accused of committing theft almost daily at the high school, amounting to at least $40,000 in stolen electronics.

Jesse Lee Snyder, 30, was arrested Wednesday when he arrived at his evening shift, 3 to 11 p.m., said Troutdale police Sgt. Steve Beavens.

When police arrested him they also reportedly found heroin in his truck, leading to drug possession charges in addition to 11 counts of second-degree burglary, and two counts of first-degree theft, all felonies.

“Internal theft happens — very rarely by teachers, but from cleaning services it does happen,” Beavens said. “But not to this extent. This happened daily for him. Every day he was stealing something and had no fear of getting caught.”

Snyder started working at the school October 2011. Reynolds School District today started the contractual steps — notification, internal investigation — to fire him, said Andrea Watson, communications director for the district.

“We don’t want this stuff that’s supposed to benefit students walking out the door,” she said.

According to police, Snyder admitted to taking upward of $40,000 worth of electronics from the school. He reportedly sold about 15 items worth $10,000 to pawn shops, and sold an unknown amount on Craigslist.

Snyder may have been stealing and selling items to support his drug habit, Beavens said.

Police believe he has an associate in Vancouver; they’re questioning that person today, Beavens said.

Reynolds High School officials noticed items missing when they returned from summer break, Watson said. Teachers document and lock up all their electronics at the end of the year.

When they returned in August they “found a significant number of items gone,” Watson said. With all the activities at the school during the summer, officials assumed they were robbed at that time and reported the missing items’ serial numbers to police.

As the school year progressed, “things were still coming up missing,” Watson said.

Since August, the school has documented about $70,000 worth of missing equipment, she said.

Within the past two weeks the school was able to capture the theft on video and police identified some of the stolen items at a pawn shop, Beavens said, prompting the arrest.

Police searched Snyder's home and reportedly found a Mac Book and Apple iPads amounting to several thousand dollars of merchandise, Beavens said.

The school has been able to replace some of the stolen items, but not all. Maybe insurance will cover some costs and maybe recovered items could be returned, but Watson said the district isn’t certain.

“I know we don’t have $70,000 lying around,” Watson said.

- Sara Hottman