Bottling plant burglar arrested, Cortland police say

A Cortland County man was arrested Monday for burglarizing his employer, the KIK Corporation, and stealing two computers from a corporate office, according to city police.

Curtis I. Lunsford, 27, who was living in Room 31 of the Cortland Motel, 3832 Rt. 11, Cortlandville, was charged with third-degree burglary, fourth-degree grand larceny and fourth-degree criminal possession of stolen property, felonies, as well as misdemeanor third-degree criminal trespass, according to the department.

Lunsford entered the bottling plant at 106 Central Ave. on Sunday, June 30 and made his way into the office area he had no right or permission to enter, said Lt. David Guerrera.

“He used his employee ID,” Guerrera said, noting he did not know why the ID worked in the restricted area. “It allowed the door to open and he took advantage of it.”

KIK Corporation workers discovered two Dell Latitude laptops, worth $1,500 each, were stolen when they returned to the office on Monday, Guerrera said.

“The burglary was caught on security camera,” he said, noting Lunsford appeared on the footage.

A city detective began searching for Lunsford and alerted local businesses that a burglar might try to sell the stolen laptops, Guerrera said.

Lunsford then attempted to sell the laptop, as officers suspected, on Monday at Tech Bytes, the computer repair store at the corner of Main and Union Streets, he said.

“They called and we picked him up and brought him here,” Guerrera said, noting Lunsford was arrested about 1 p.m. at the police station.

Police recovered the computer Lunsford was attempting to sell, he said.

“The other is still missing,” Guerrera said. “He (Lunsford) didn’t cooperate and it wasn’t recovered at his residence.”

Lunsford was arraigned at 5 p.m. Monday in City Court and sent to the Cortland County Correctional Facility without bail.