GOLDEN, Colo. — Golden Police (GPD) are looking for a man who they say broke into the Miners Alley Playhouse and caused thousands of dollars in damage to the theater building.
“Somebody came here specifically to rob the place," said Len Matheo, the theater's executive and artistic director. "He had a flashlight and a bag and a mask and a hoody and he was trying to get in every door.”
Security cameras caught the suspect as he roamed around the building Wednesday evening for about 16 minutes.
“We have videotape of him going into one door, trying that door with a crowbar, then trying another door and then trying another door and when he got to the door behind us, he finally got in,” Matheo said.
Matheo said the man destroyed several doors which will need to be replaced.
"He just put his weight against here, and he just starting kicking and kicking and kicking and he finally popped it open," Matheo said, showing the damage to a door behind the theater's bar.
Aside from damaging doors, the suspect stole about $400 in cash from the box office, Matheo said.
The break-in left the artistic director feeling angry and violated during a time when the nonprofit theater was already struggling.
“All the arts are hurting, but the performing arts I think especially," Matheo said.
The venue has relied on live-streaming performances for virtual audiences during the pandemic.
"All of our strengths, once we shut down, became weaknesses because we didn’t have any ticket sales," Matheo said.
The theater community the Miners Alley Playhouse relied upon before the pandemic stepped up to help after the break-in.
"They came out in full force," Matheo said. “All these people saying, ‘hey, we’re here for you. What do you need?’”
Donations will help the theater cover its insurance deductible.
“There’s moments of hope and feelings of love and caring when you realize that all these people come out from the community to help you," Matheo said.
The suspect appeared to be wearing a 1999 Broncos Super Bowl championship hat, Matheo said. The theater asks anyone with information about the break-in to call GPD.
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