An unidentified suspect broke into the Isla Vista Food Cooperative at around 2:30 a.m. Feb. 1, stealing parts of an empty cash register and damaging a back window. Staff were unable to specify the approximate costs of damages or the stolen parts.

The suspect, presumed to be a male by staff due to the building’s security footage, broke a fence behind the store, then broke an upper window to enter the co-op, tripping onto the top of a refrigerator. They knocked over and damaged various food products in the process. The Isla Vista Foot Patrol (IVFP) is currently in the process of investigating the case.

“The suspect was captured on video and appears to be a Hispanic male in his late teens or early 20’s with chin length hair, wearing a dark colored Oakland A’s baseball hat, a brown coat with a tan liner, blue jeans, and retro Nike Dunk sneakers that are white with dark trim,” a Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office email news release read.

The suspect captured on co-op security footage. Courtesy of SBSO

According to Lisa Oglesby, president of the co-op Board of Directors, the suspect triggered the co-op alarm system at the time of the break-in but was able to exit the premises within 15 minutes, thereby evading arrest by the time Oglesby checked the live camera feed.

“We did have some product damage because of the way that they entered — they sort of tripped into a cooler. But in reviewing the cameras, we didn’t see them do anything but look around and see what might be good to steal,” Oglesby said.

They got notice of the break-in later that morning when they received their supplies delivery at 8 a.m. on Saturday. Delivery workers notified IVFP after noticing signs of the break-in. Oglesby said they have “really good” camera footage and screenshots of the suspect, which were shared with IVFP.

“When they came into the part of the store that had been affected, they saw products on the ground and a freezer door opened, and that was all very strange. So then they started looking around more. They found some other odd things, and they instantly called the foot patrol,” Oglesby said.

Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Raquel Zick told the Nexus the department is in the process of requesting information about the incident.

Despite announcing a temporary shut down due to the break-in early Saturday on their Instagram, staff opened the store 10 minutes later than its regular Saturday hours from 12-7 p.m. According to Oglesby, they replaced the missing register parts with equipment from the co-op’s downtown Santa Barbara location.

The co-op is currently at risk of being shut down due to a 20% drop-off in sales in the last two years. They are trying to reach a fundraising goal of $200,000, having collected $3,550 so far. Oglesby said the break-in was a setback, since they will now have to bear the weight of replacing equipment and paying staff for overtime work.

“Because we are underfunded from a lack of sales, it means that we simply have less funding to be able to pay for extra payroll, to call people in on a Saturday, for all of those kinds of things. The replacement of the window, the shuffling around of the stuff,” Oglesby said. “Thankfully, our staff is very willing to do things. But when you’re already stretched thin, it is harder.”

The Nexus will continue to report on this topic as more information becomes available.

UPDATE [2/3/2025, 2:32 p.m.] This article has been updated to reflect the suspects description from an SBSO press release.

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Anushka Ghosh Dastidar
Anushka Ghosh Dastidar (she/her) is the Lead News Editor for the 2024-25 school year. Previously, Ghosh Dastidar was the Community Outreach News Editor for the 2023-24 school year and the Assistant News Editor for the 2022-2023 school year. She can be reached at anushkagd@dailynexus.com or news@dailynexus.com.