A man is being sought by campus authorities after ransacking the Cashier’s Office Friday evening on April 28, police said.

The office, which was closed when the burglary occurred, sustained a slew of damages, including pry marks at the main entrance, broken door handles and cash drawers being pulled out of their desks.

However, the cash in those drawers was moved to the office vault before the burglary. The vault itself was not compromised by the burglar despite his efforts to break in, according to El Camino Police Sgt. Ruben Lopez.

An El Camino employee heard noises coming from the area near the Cashier’s Office at the Bookstore Building at around 6:48 p.m. and called the campus police.

“Our officers were dispatched to the [Cashier’s Office], and when they arrived, they saw that the main door to get in there was propped open,” Lopez said. “So they thought that was unusual. They went into [the office] and they discovered that the area had been gone through.”

Lopez said that nothing was taken in the burglary.

“The vault was not accessed because it was behind a security door, and that security door was not accessed,” Lopez said. “[But] the door was damaged.”

Police confirmed that a man seen on a campus security camera leaving the area Friday evening was the suspect in the burglary.

A police advisory email sent to college students and employees three hours after the crime described the suspect as an 18-25-year-old man with short twists or braided hair; about 6 feet tall; wearing a black scarf; black long-sleeve shirt; black jeans and white Nike shoes.

A burglary of this scale hasn’t been seen for years at the campus, El Camino Police Chief Michael Trevis said.

“That was years and years ago,” Trevis said. “I’m willing to say, eight years ago, maybe nine, something like that. It’s been a long time.”

Trevis is referring to a crime in 2016 in which burglars broke into the Schauerman Library and destroyed an ATM to get the money inside. It was the last major burglary that has happened on campus, Trevis said.

The damage to the office has since been repaired by the college’s Facilities Planning and Services department. As for the police, Trevis said that they plan on stepping up police patrols around campus.

While security cameras around the Cashier’s Office did capture the suspect on video during the crime, police are withholding the footage while they investigate.

“This is an ongoing investigation,” Trevis said. “But when we apprehend this individual, I’d be more than happy to share it.”

Trevis did have one message to give to the burglary suspect.

“Turn yourself in, before it escalates,” he said.

Editor’s Note: Added featured photo on May 4, 2023, at 1:48 a.m.