MILWAUKEE — For the past 29 years, the Dominican Center has served the Amani Neighborhood.
Now, they hope the neighborhood and city of Milwaukee can help serve them after a burglar broke in on back-to-back nights and stole several items.
“They broke the door, and the second night, they broke the door again and the window,” said Elizabeth Perdomo, director of operations.
The burglar entered through a door on the east side of the facility, near the corner of 24th and Locust.
Perdomo said they boarded up the door after the first night. She believes the person used a hammer both times to get inside, and that hammer is now in police custody.
“It was very frustrating and scary at the same time,” said Perdomo who discovered one of the break-ins.
Now, both sides of the door and window have been boarded up and secured.
Security footage captured a few glances of the burglar but not enough to identify the suspect. The clearest picture shows them leaving the front of the building early Thursday morning with a TV over their head.
The center provides after-school activities and tutoring for kids along with programs for adults.
Some programs require technology like laptops and TVs to help those in the Amani neighborhood participate.
Here’s a list of what was taken both nights according to the center.
- Two 65” monitors
- 60” Smart TV
-Two 55” Smart TV
-13” MacBook Air with Apple M1 Chip Laptop
-14” MacBook Pro Laptop
-Diapers of all sizes
-Five Dell Laptops
- TV adaptors for Mac computers
-Dell desktop computer
-30 New Halloween costumes
-Two wood doors and window replacement
- Fence and gate repair
- Cannon AE-1 SLR digital camera, lenses, battery and charger, camera bag
Executive Director Maricha Harris said the burglar grabbed over $12,000 worth of items, even eating snacks and drinking juice meant for the kids they serve.
“I am sad. I’m angry. I'm frustrated,” said Harris.
It wasn’t just items stolen. The thief also took decades worth of photos and memories showing the organization’s service. The photos were stored in memory cards.
Harris said she was planning to use them when the Dominican Center celebrates its 30th anniversary.
Watch: Burglar steals items on back-to-back nights from Milwaukee nonprofit
The stolen, new Halloween costumes for kids frustrated Harris equally. Those costumes were going to be distributed to kids on October 19 at a Harvest Festival in the neighborhood.
They now urgently need more costumes.
“It doesn't just impact us who are in this building, but it impacts all of those that we serve,” said Harris.
The Dominican Center is now looking for both monetary and donations of the items that were stolen.
Items can be dropped at the Dominican Center during normal business hours from 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday or 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Friday.
The center is located at 2470 West Locust Street. You can call 414-444-9930 to see how you can help.
Click here to learn more: Dominican Center (dominican-center.org)
Monetary Donations: Help us recover from a burglary at Dominican Center (kindest.com)
The organization is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for this burglary.
The Milwaukee Police Department is investigating the burglaries.
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