A safe and cashbox containing approximately $46,000 in cash were stolen from the Los Alamitos residence halls this weekend, according to University Police.
University Police responded to a call of the theft at 9:05 a.m. Sunday, but no suspects are currently identified in the case.
The safe contained $45,000 of housing deposits that belonged to the international educational program Education First, which is contracted to use the Los Cerritos and Los Alamitos residence halls for about 450 students throughout the summer, according to EF’s Center Manager Faith Marquez. The cashbox contained $1,000 for the program’s operational expenditures.
According to Marquez, the safe and cashbox had been secured in a wooden cupboard with a cable lock in EF’s makeshift office in a dorm room on the building’s first floor Saturday night. Marquez said she last held the safes at 10:30 p.m. Saturday before doing her nightly rounds and clocking out around midnight.
Marquez said she realized the next morning that the safes were missing.
“I went to assist other leaders and came back around 9:30 a.m. because I wanted to put some receipts in the safe,” Marquez said. “That’s when I noticed the cable lock was unlocked, and the safes containing the cash were gone.”
According to EF Activities Manager Justin Magee, the robbery has left many members of the EF staff unsettled. Very few people had access to the room where the safes were held, and EF staff was in close proximity to the office late into the night.
Magee said he was finishing work in the room adjacent to the makeshift office until 1:30 a.m. and didn’t notice anything strange throughout the night.
“I was really just kind of baffled,” Magee said. “We have a very large staff of people that work and live in a very intimate community environment. The thought of suspecting a staff member or student can be kind of unsettling.”
University Police are handling the ongoing investigation, though EF supervisors conducted brief sweeps of building’s rooms, according to Magee. University Police Capt. Christopher Schivley said many resources are being put into the case but that he couldn’t elaborate.
Anyone with information pertaining to the case may contact University Police at (562) 985-4101.