Cops: Florida girl breaks into safe, gives $10K to students

SUMMERFIELD, Fla. (AP) — A 14-year-old girl caused a stir at a north Florida middle school this week when she handed out more than $10,000 that officials say she stole from her grandmother’s safe.

Marion County deputies responded to Lake Weir Middle School in Summerfield on Thursday after reports that a student was giving classmates hundreds of dollars each, according to an arrest report. Summerfield is about 60 miles (100 kilometers) northwest of Orlando.

School officials searched the girl’s backpack and found about $2,500, deputies said. The teen said an unknown former student had given her the money and wanted it disseminated. Investigators said they later determined that the girl had broken into her grandmother’s home safe and stolen about $13,500 of the woman’s life savings.

The arrest report doesn’t say why the girl allegedly took the money or why she gave it away to her classmates.

By Friday, officials had recovered about $700 of the money that had been handed out to other students. That money and the $2,500 recovered from the girl’s backpack were returned to the grandmother.

The girl is facing a grand theft charge.