Kevin Hart is famous for making people laugh, but a thief’s undoing of his recent charitable donation to students in the School District of Philadelphia is no laughing matter.
On Tuesday, when Hart learned that someone had stolen four of the 500 Sony Vaio computers that he donated to Philadelphia schools and Department of Parks and Recreation centers in low-income neighborhoods last month, he took to Twitter to express his frustration with the theft.
“I was just informed that some of the computers that I donated to the Philadelphia Public School System were stolen,” Hart said in a Tweet. “This is a message to all of the kids at the schools that were affected...ignorance like this only motivates me to do more.”
The beloved Philly-bred actor and comedian visited students at four city schools with Mayor Michael Nutter in November. In addition to his donation of 500 computers, during the visit Hart contributed $250,000 to the city’s struggling school district.
According to detectives in the Southwest Division, four $1,000 computers were stolen from the Cobbs Creek Recreation Center on Dec. 13.
Southwest detectives say two other recreation center thefts were reported on the same day. A Dell desktop computer and a 40-inch Panasonic flat screen TV were reportedly stolen from the Christy Recreation Center at 728 S. 55th Street. Similarly, at the 48th Street Playground at 1414 S. 47th Street, thieves stole a Dell desktop computer and a 40-inch flat screen TV, but they also got away with a buffer machine, a yellow compressor and a trash can.
Detectives say there were no signs of forced entry at any of the robberies, indicating that the thefts were likely committed by someone with access to the centers.
Despite the setback, Hart, a George Washington High School grad and proud Philly native says the theft has only prompted him to come back to do even more for the city’s students.
“I love y’all and I will be back shortly,” Hart tweeted to his young fans. “But I'm coming bigger and better this time. I put on for my city.”
Detectives say the investigation is ongoing. Anyone with any information about the stolen computers is encouraged to contact the Southwest Detective Division at 215-686-3183/84.
Photo Credit: Getty