Burglar Steals Computer From Democratic Party Chief

It was a third-rate burglary.

Sometime during the afternoon last Friday, a burglar snatched two iPods, a laptop computer and a PDA from the home of Capitol power couple Steve Coony and Kathy Bowler, executive director of the California Democratic Party.

Bowler and Coony, the chief deputy state treasurer, live in a sprawling home not far from where ex-Govs. Pete Wilson and Gray Davis lived. The burglar apparently went through an unlocked window, grabbed the electronics from a home office and made a quick exit.

The laptop and PDA belonged to Bowler, a longtime Democratic Party official. In an interview, Coony said she lost phone numbers and contact lists but doubted any valuable insider information about the party was exposed. He said his own computer contained some political information, but the burglar left it behind. They are now monitoring Craigslist to see if Bowler's electronics are put up for sale.

"There has been a lot of break-ins in the neighborhood in the last month, the security person we talked to told us," said Coony, a longtime top deputy to Attorney General Bill Lockyer, now state treasurer. "I don't think it had anything remotely to do with what either of us do for a living."