Joseph Pegues, 35, is charged with breaking and entering and possession of stolen property, said Detective Benjamin Longmire.
Pegues was already in Scotland County jail under a $10,000 bond for a residential break-in on Melton Street in Laurinburg and possession of cocaine, Longmire said.
He was given a $50,000 for the new charge.
Officials at I.E. Johnson told police on Aug. 11 that 37 Dell laptops worth a total of $35,747 and a Dell desktop and monitor worth $734 were stolen.
Police received an anonymous tip that led detectives to Pegues, Captain Kim Monroe said. He added that police have recovered a few of the laptops and hope to recover more.
Monroe said there was no evidence of forced entry at the school or at the room where the equipment was stored, but two carts that contained the laptops were damaged.
Andy Cagle, community schools coordinator, said the school system would not comment on the matter as it deals with an ongoing police investigation.
Pegues has spent nine years in prison during six different periods of incarceration on a litany of charges, including escaping from the Scotland County jail in 2001, Department of Correction records say.
He has been convicted of two previous break-ins in North Carolina. Some of his other convictions include robbery, assault and possession of a firearm by a felon.
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