Burglar ransacks Gresham drug recovery center

From KGW.com, December 23, 2011

The manager of a Gresham facility for recovering addicts startled a burglar while opening up the center early Friday morning.

LEARN – URS Club

Burglary at URS Club

Burglary at URS Club

Police formed a perimeter search, fearing for a short time that the same made attempted to rob a nearby mini-mart. A suspect was not located.

Curtis Grecco of the Unity Recovery Service at 17200 SE Stark told KGW he unlocked the doors about 6 a.m. and found a stranger inside.

The man told him someone else had broken-in and he was trying to catch that thief. Grecco locked him into the facility and called police. A few minutes later, the man broke out and ran.

Inside, Grecco discovered that the pantry was destroyed, offices torn apart and several hundred dollars stolen.

Curtis said the man appeared to have been on drugs.

“Why would someone go through all this mess and ruin a lot of people’s Christmas for $200,” Curtis said, “He’s an addict. And that’s why were here, that’s who we help. We’re not mad at you. Come back, make amends, we’ll help you.”

The URS needs some holiday love. Food for a Christmas dinner was rendered inedible and donations would be appreciated.

The suspect was described as a white man in his late 20s or early 30s, about 6 feet 1 or 2 with short dark hair. He was wearing a black shirt and blue denim pants.