Details of Weekend Break-In at Boys and Girls Clubhouse Released

Details of a weekend break-in at the Boys and Girls Clubs of the San Gorgonio Pass clubhouse at Roosevelt Williams were released Monday by Banning police.

Police responded at 10:57 p.m. Saturday to a burglar alarm at the clubhouse and found a broken window next to the clubhouse door.

Inside they found damage to numerous items inside the building and missing electronic components, police said in a statement.

It was determined the burglar or burglars used a tool to break the window and access the building.

 "They broke in one of the windows, apparently with a hammer," Banning police Chief Leonard Purvis said. "They damaged one of the computers, some lights and tried to damage the alarm system."

Purvis is a member of the Pass Boys and Girls Clubs board.

"It saddens me that the suspects would break into the clubhouse and damage a place that is supposed to be a safe haven for children," Purvis said. "By stealing from children - and that is what they're doing - they're hurting children in their own neighborhood.

"We'll try to find out who did this," Purvis said. "It's just really sad, especially considering all the work Amy Herr and everyone else did getting the place re-opened."

Boys and Girls Clubs officials re-opened the clubhouse five weeks before the Saturday break-in.

Before March 19, the clubhouse had been closed since December, when someone broke in, trashed the place, broke a television, and stole a Wii game console, said the clubs' director of operations, Rhonda Guaderrama.

During the time the clubhouse was closed, three 13-year-old boys were charged with felony rape of a 13-year-old Nicolet Middle School girl at the park. The alleged attack occurred Feb. 7 and it was reported to police the next day.

"Any time you have something that reflects negatively on your city, or a traumatic event that affects your youth, you need to look at the alternatives that are available in the community," Farron Fowler, 27, the new director of Boys & Girls Clubs programs and athletics at Roosevelt Williams Park, said in an interview when the clubhouse re-opened.

"You need to be in touch with your children, and they need to know there is a safe place where they can be creative, competitive and positive," Fowler said.

Anyone with information about the Saturday burglary was urged to contact the Banning Police Department Detective Bureau at (951) 849-1194.