Several incidents of burglary and vandalism were reported at the Modular Village construction site near Lot L on Tuesday, Feb. 25 and Monday, March 3.
A report made at 9:45 p.m. notified the El Camino College Police Department of a trespassing incident and the vandalization of locks on an on-site storage container, indicating an attempted burglary.
The incident occurred between Friday, Feb. 21 and Tuesday, Feb. 25. The lock on the storage container was removed but officers were unsure if any content inside was stolen.
ECCPD Police Chief Matthew Vander Hork said that the motive for these break-ins may be to find tools to flip and sell off-campus for profit.
The ECCPD was made aware of a second burglary and officers were dispatched when a later incident that day was reported at 3:09 p.m.
An off-site storage container located near Lot L had been broken into and tools were stolen from the box, Vander Hork said.
The ECCPD is making efforts to prevent additional burglaries in the area.
“We increased our police presence in that area, in doing so, there’s been no incidents in that area since then,” Vander Horck said.
About a week later, a burglary was reported by the morning construction crew to have occurred between 11 a.m. Monday, Feb. 24 and 6:50 a.m. Monday, March 3.
A burglary attempt was made on a portable workspace office, where the door to the office space had been vandalized, but it was unclear if any contents were stolen.
Sergeant Ruben Lopez said that the possible perpetrators are more likely to be from outside the campus community.
“There’s many valuable things. There’s tools, lock boxes, electronics and nothing is really secured. All they really have is a six-foot fence around it,” Lopez said.