DA: 2 former school bus drivers accused of breaking into Parkland School District bus garage to face trial | Allentown Area

S. WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. – Two former district school bus drivers who are being accused of breaking into a Parkland School District bus garage will face trial in Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas. 

Shawn Levy, 32, of Breinigsville, and Tyler Young, 27, of Allentown, waived their rights to preliminary hearings, the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. 

The DA’s office said Levy and Young had preliminary hearings scheduled Wednesday before Magisterial District Judge Derek A. Kirsopp. 

They are scheduled for formal arraignments at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 2 before Judge Robert L. Steinberg, according to the news release. Both Levy and Young remain free on $50,000 unsecured bail, the DA’s office said.

Levy and Young are both charged with felony counts of Conspiracy to Burglary, Conspiracy to Criminal Trespass, and Conspiracy to the Unlawful Duplication, according to the DA’s office.

The DA’s office said Levy and Young had been previously employed as Parkland School District bus drivers.

On June 8, Parkland School Director of Safety Dr. Anthony Naradko notified South Whitehall Township Police about an unauthorized entry into the Orefield Middle School bus garage, according to the DA’s office.

The school district provided surveillance video from the night of the incident around 10 p.m. June 6, according to the news release.

The DA’s office said the video showed Levy and Young arrive together in a Tesla registered to Young. The car parked in a lot near the garage and a few minutes later, they entered a secure bus garage which neither had access to open, according to the DA’s office.

The video surveillance showed Levy and Young remain inside the garage for nearly two hours before they both left together, the DA’s office said.

According to the DA’s office, school district officials said neither defendant was permitted nor authorized to be inside the facility after hours.

The garage supervisor reported that on June 6, while he was not present at work, he received notifications about new computer login attempts, the DA’s office said.

The DA’s office said those attempts showed access from the supervisor’s cellphone and computer. According to the DA’s office, his computer was inside the Orefield Middle School bus garage located at 2619 Stadium Drive.

According to the DA’s office, the garage supervisor reviewed the account history and discovered that multiple disciplinary files had been accessed on June 6.

During the course of the investigation, school district employees found a printed student roster that included photographs of students on Levy’s assigned school bus, according to the news release.

The DA’s office said the roster had been printed on April 25.

School officials said student photograph rosters are only accessible through the Parkland School District’s software system and access is restricted to administrative personnel, according to the DA’s office.

According to the news release, neither Levy nor Young had authorized access to the student photograph rosters.

The investigation later revealed that on at least 55 different occasions between March 25 and June 5, an off-site IP address associated with Levy and Young had been used to gain unauthorized access to another district employee’s account, the DA’s office said.

The DA’s office said the address had also been used to view and duplicate protected electronic files and records, including the student photograph roster.

69 News previously reached out to the district for comment. They provided the following statement: 

“Parkland School District is committed to protecting the privacy and security of our students, staff, and community. We are writing to address a recent incident involving unauthorized access to our bus garage and district systems. Following the discovery of this activity, the District immediately initiated an internal investigation and has cooperated fully with the South Whitehall Township Police Department throughout its criminal investigation.

Now that arrests have been made and law enforcement has publicly announced the case, we can provide the following information regarding the District’s ongoing response.

Our comprehensive forensic audit, conducted in coordination with law enforcement, has confirmed unauthorized activity involving specific network credentials. We are aware of reports regarding repeated unauthorized access attempts and the unauthorized printing of district documents. This was a serious violation and we take these actions with the utmost gravity. We are reviewing system permissions, and implementing additional safeguards to help prevent similar incidents in the future.

As this remains an active criminal investigation, certain details cannot be disclosed at this time. We will continue working closely with the South Whitehall Township Police Department and the District Attorney’s office and will provide additional updates as appropriate.

Parkland School District remains committed to maintaining the trust of our students, families, and staff. We are using this incident to further strengthen our cybersecurity practices, enhance system monitoring, and reinforce safeguards designed to protect all District information systems.”