Police are searching for suspects in a string of burglaries that occurred within a little more than a week of each other in two local churches and a school, authorities said Monday.
American Martyrs Catholic School, Journey of Faith and Manhattan Beach Community Church were all targets of break-ins last month that resulted in minor property damage and loss.
“We can’t say for sure whether they are related, but it seems likely because there were similar [methods of operation] used,” said Manhattan Beach Police Detective John Nasori.
On Sept. 17, police responded to a burglary report at American Martyrs, where a director’s office had been broken into. Two envelopes containing iTunes gift cards were removed from an unlocked desk drawer and ripped open, however both cards were left behind.
A locked file cabinet with student’s scores had also been pried open.
An American Martyrs teacher reported noticing a suspicious man standing in the school’s main building office at 6:20 p.m. the day before, authorities said. As the teacher walked back to his classroom, he noticed the door handle of another room had been tampered with and broken.
“When he walked back outside, he saw the same guy standing 40 feet from the preschool playground,” Nasori said. “The guy waved and walked away.”
The teacher followed the man to a nearby street before he drove away.
Twenty minutes later, another employee saw the same man walk into a junior high facility room and exit quickly.
The man is described by police as white, age 45 to 50, 6 ft. 2 in. and 220 lbs. He was last seen wearing a blue shirt and denim shorts.
On Sept. 25, police responded at 10 a.m. to a report of a break-in at Manhattan Beach Community Church.
Police were told that the office had been locked the previous evening, though authorities said there were no signs of forced entry.
“The next day, a worker used her key to get into the administrative office and noticed the receptionist desk was ransacked, two locked drawers were removed and their contents thrown about the office,” Nasori said.
After noticing another unlocked drawer had also been pulled out, the employee contacted police, who discovered that a locked drop box had been pried from the wall.
The only property stolen was an envelope with $30 in cash designated for donuts.
“They stole their donut money,” Nasori said. “How sad is that?”
The following day at 8 a.m., an employee of Journey of Faith called police after noticing several areas of the church’s youth facility had been damaged.
The window to a locked metal office door had been unsuccessfully pried open. Also, an empty lockbox and refrigerator had been pried open and a storage locker had been rummaged through.
Roughly $500 in damages was reported, Nasori said.
“It appears there was no property loss,” Nasori said. “And it doesn’t look like they left anything behind.
There were no signs of forced entry.
“The door was possibly left unlocked,” Nasori said.
Police took fingerprints and photos of all three incidents and are continuing the investigation.
Nasori could not say at this time whether the incidents were related.
“We’re guessing it might be a homeless person,” he said. “They go in, bust open a lock box, look inside envelopes where money could be kept and look in food areas. But we don’t know for sure.”
Nasori said no other church burglaries have since been reported.
Anyone with information regarding these or related incidents should call the MBPD at (310) 802-5100 ER
