Great Falls Area News

Boys and Girls Club ransacked and burglarized

Posted: Dec 23, 2012 8:25 PM by Tara Grimes (tara@krtv.com)
Updated: Dec 23, 2012 8:26 PM

Great Falls police are searching for suspects after Boys & Girls Club staff found their building ransacked and several items stolen.

Although police believe the club was broken into Friday night after employees left, the discovery did not happen until the Cascade County Sheriff's Office called the club on Sunday morning after finding one of its vans off of Stuckey Road.

"We were notified that a van had been stolen," Boys & Girls Club Board vice president David Davis said. "I was told when I got here that all the keys for the vans were taken. We were able to recover one set of keys with the van."

When staff arrived at the club to find out more, they found the main offices, the kitchen, and other parts of the building torn apart.

They also found many items stolen, including the club's video game consoles, hundreds of dollars in cash, and the rest of their van keys.

Boys & Girls Club director Sonya Smith said it will take time to sort through the club to see if anything else was taken.

"My stomach just turned," Smith said. "What a tragedy to walk in and see that someone could do this. It directly affects the kids, not just the staff. It's devastating."

Davis agreed: "It's a pretty big hit to morale, being a non-profit for kids to think that anyone would do something like this."

The thief or thieves used the club's own tools to break into the main offices, taking one of the doors completely off the hinges, making sure they broke into every lock possible and also drank Dr. Pepper in the kitchen along the way.

"It's sickening, especially right before the holidays," Davis said.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Great Falls Police Department. If you'd like to help the club out you can call them directly at 761-1330. They will reopen on Wednesday.