MUSTANG, Okla. – A former teacher with the Mustang Public School District is accused of stealing textbooks from one of the district’s campuses.

The district said it received a complaint about one of its teachers stealing textbooks on Jan. 26.

District leaders said the suspected book thief is Todd Smith, a first-year educator in Mustang.

After the allegations surfaced, the school suspended Smith, but he resigned from the post days later.

Mustang Public Schools sent us the following statement on the case:

“We received a report on Jan. 26 of a teacher taking textbooks and began an investigation. We met with the teacher, Todd Smith, on Jan. 27 and suspended him pending an investigation. He resigned on the morning of the 29th and is no longer with our district. It was his first year with Mustang.
We defer to the police department for any other information since this is an ongoing investigation. We can say that we are appalled at the very idea that someone would consider taking resources away from the children of the district. In a district like Mustang that grew 500 students last year and 300 students this year, textbooks are a precious commodity.”

NewsChannel 4 also spoke with some book stores who said textbooks can be worth money.

“You could sell this one back and get $70 for it, maybe even more,” said Cameron Cox with Textbook Brokers in Edmond. “This math book, it’s only worth $1.”

Cox said customers have attempted to sell stolen books in the past.

“Depending on the value of the books, it could go anywhere from a misdemeanor to a felony,” he said.

Thursday, police said they have recovered more than 100 high school text books, a majority of which were identified as property of the Mustang Public School District.

Smith is now being held on the charges of  Second-Degree Burglary, Grand Larceny, two counts of Receiving and Concealing Stolen Property and Pattern of Criminal Offenses.