A school administrator is in custody and has been charged with two counts of grand theft after deputies say he used the banking information of a school donor to pay his rent and other personal purchases.
Jamall Collins, assistant principal of John Stockton Elementary in Ortega, was arrested without incident at the Duval County School Police headquarters Thursday.
According to the arrest report, Vanessa Holland of Ortega Orthodontist told JSO that she handed a check made out to John Stockton Elementary for $2,000 to Collins on Nov. 8, as part of her business' regular donations to the school. The check contained the account's routing and checking numbers. She says the check is usually handed to the principal but was given to Collins because the principal was in a meeting.
When Holland received a bank statement for that month, she told JSO there were several unauthorized transactions including an insurance premium of $525 attached to Collin's name and a rent payment made to the suspect's address at 653 Monument Rd.
During the investigation, officers reached out to The Meridian, the suspect's apartment complex, to discuss the payment. Shortly after, the assistant manager of the complex told JSO that after officers visited the complex, Collins asked the assistant manager to stop his most recent payment.
On Dec. 4, an employee at John Stockton Elementary told JSO she saw Holland give the check to Collins. When Hollands saw the check, the witness told police Collins said "That's a big check," and that he should hold onto it even after he was told it's supposed to go in the donation box.
The suspect was arrested the following Thursday.
Principal Stephanie Brannan informed parents of the arrest through an automated phone call.
Collins has worked for the school district since Aug.7, 2017, but was only recently appointed to the assistant principal position on Aug. 6.
In addition to being part of an ongoing criminal investigation, the district's office of professional standards will conduct an independent investigation into the matter.