DA: Plymouth schools' food director stole goods, resold them at Barnstable snack shack
The longtime food services director for Plymouth Public Schools is facing charges that he stole thousands of dollars' worth of food, paper goods and equipment from the district, then used and resold the items at his privately run snack shack on Cape Cod, according to the Plymouth County district attorney's office.
Patrick Van Cott, 62, of Sandwich, was arraigned Friday, June 6, in Plymouth District Court on charges of larceny over $1,200 by a single scheme and larceny from a building. He pleaded not guilty and was held on $50,000 cash bail. A judge ordered him to stay away from all Plymouth school buildings and storage facilities, the DA's office said.
According to investigators, Van Cott used his position to order items – including lobster meat, Angus burgers and kitchen appliances – that were never served in school cafeterias. Instead, police say they ended up at the Sandy Neck Snack Shack in Barnstable, which Van Cott runs during the summer.
A list of items that were purchased by Van Cott but are not currently in the Plymouth Public Schools storage facility was compiled totaling over $8,300 in goods, police said.
Van Cott has worked for the district for nearly 22 years and was earning $114,000 annually as of 2024, according to his LinkedIn profile and town finance records.
The investigation began after an anonymous tip was sent to school officials on May 30. Surveillance footage from April showed Van Cott removing commercial refrigerators from a school on a Saturday and taking them across the Sagamore Bridge, police said.
A June 4 police search of the Snack Shack turned up government-purchased food, kitchen appliances and other district property, police said. Van Cott was arrested at the scene.
His arraignment followed a statement from School Superintendent Christopher Campbell the previous day noting that a then-unnamed staff member had been removed from duty due to 'serious allegations' of misusing school property.
More: Plymouth school employee accused of 'inappropriate use' of district property. What we know
Van Cott is scheduled to return to court July 21.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Plymouth cops: School official stole food, supplies to resell on Cape
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