DAYTON — A community center and mosque in Dayton was recently broken into and vandalized.
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Security cameras at the Ahiska Turkish Community Center captured the entire incident, which happened on Dec. 30 after 10 p.m.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 11:00, the center has been located off E 5th Street for almost 14 years and hasn’t had any problems.
On New Year’s Eve, the building manager came to work and noticed damage around the office.
He reviewed the security footage and called 911 after watching a masked person vandalize the building.
The center shared the security camera video with News Center 7.
Shortly after 10 p.m., the suspect walks onto the property.
He made his way inside and started looking around, going from the kitchen to the main office.
The video shows the suspect smashing the glass window on a door and then opening it.
Ashlan Shakhbandarov, the youth leader at the mosque, said they were hurt when they saw the video.
“Their motive being like this, smashing, stealing, it’s just not good. It’s, it’s really, you know, sad to see,” he said.
Shakhbandarov said the suspect left the office after destroying the desk and door.
He then went into the mosque, picked up a donation box, and slammed it to the ground.
The video shows the suspect using an apparent tool to open the box.
“It’s a lot of damage, you know, we have to repair this. He took it, he broke the box, so we have to get a new box,” Shakhbandarov said.
Money in the donation box isn’t used to fund the mosque; it’s used to help the community, according to the center’s leaders.
“Not sure the exact amount in the donation box. He checks, you know, he takes the money and donates them to charities every at the end of the every week,” Shakhbandarov said.
Shakhbandarov said they upgraded their entire camera system just two days before the break-in, but now plan to do more.
“We’re going to install more like alarms alerts, in case anything like this happens again,” he said.
Shakhbandarov believes this man knew his way around the mosque.
“This is the office where, you know, there’s a lot of money kept in here,” he said. “It kind of felt like the person knew the place almost.”
Leaders with the center filed a police report. They’re hoping to find the person responsible.
News Center 7 has reached out to the Dayton Police Department for more information on this incident.
We will continue to follow this story.
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