by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The Wellington Recreation Commission Center and the Assembly of God Church have been the target of burglar(s) this past month.

The burglaries have occurred between Tuesday, July 23 and Sunday August 18.

“We have seen an increase in business type break-ins,” said Tracy Heath, Wellington City Police Chief. 

The WRC building, located at 202 South Jefferson, has been burglarized three times, according to WRC Director Cody White. In the first and third entry, White said the Rec Center lost more than $300 in cash, 13 X-box games and Wii video games. The games were described as NBA-2K11; NBK2K12; Call of Duty; Madden NFL 11, 12 and 13; Dragon Ball Z; Need for Speed; Super Mario Galaxy 2; Deca Sports 1; Dirt 2 and Star Wars/Force Unleashed. Camera equipment was also stolen.

Heath said property stolen from the church at 202 South Jefferson consisted of cash and a Sentry Safe, which was later found in the field south of the church.

White said the WRC lost items two out of the three times. The second time nothing was stolen.

“It was strange what they stole because they would take games but would by-pass computer equipment,” White said.

Heath said it sounded as if that might be the doings of some youngsters, who needed the games and the cash, but had no use for the computer equipment.

“They won’t get much for those games if they resale them,” Heath said.

Heath said he did not think the two building burglaries were related. However, both of them might have been caused by someone who knew their way around the buildings.

Wellington PD is seeking community assistance with identifying the person(s) responsible for these crimes. Please contact the Wellington Police at 620-326-3331 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or 620-326-3135.