Burglars broke into Wilsonville Community Sharing sometime before dawn on Sept. 1, ransacking the nonprofit's Barber Street office and making off with roughly $3,000 in laptops, printers, a cellphone and other equipment. The food bank's executive director found the mess when she arrived that morning, and police are now asking the public to help identify four people caught on surveillance cameras nearby.
According to KATU, the Wilsonville Police Department is investigating the burglary and has released photos of four people who were in the area between 4:30 and 7 a.m. on Sept. 1, hoping someone recognizes them. The department logged the case as number 26-017327 and said the four persons of interest were captured on surveillance footage from the surrounding Vuela Apartments, per the Wilsonville Police Department's Facebook post. Anyone with information is asked to call 503-723-4949 or submit tips through the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office website, the station's report notes.
The financial hit goes beyond the sticker price of the stolen gear. Executive Director Leigh Crosby said losing the organization's cellphone disrupted communication with clients, and that replacing the stolen electronics threatens the nonprofit's client assistance funds because insurance deductibles exceed what the equipment was worth on the open market, according to a Facebook post shared in the Salem/Keizer Crime and Oregon news group. In other words, money that would normally go toward rent, utility bills or prescriptions for struggling families may instead have to cover new laptops and printers.
A Safety Net Already Stretched Thin
Crosby has led Wilsonville Community Sharing for more than 30 years, running it as a local nonprofit and a local satellite of the Oregon Food Bank, according to the Wilsonville Spokesman. The organization operates out of 9749 SW Barber Street inside Vuela, an affordable housing development.
The break-in landed at a difficult moment for the charity. In a September 2025 presentation to the Wilsonville City Council, the nonprofit reported that food pantry usage had climbed 34.3% for families and 29% for individuals compared to prior periods, with adults aged 25 to 44 the most frequent age group seeking help, the Spokesman reported. The group served food assistance to 194 families in August 2026 alone and provides direct financial aid.
Investigation Continues
No suspects have been named, and police are still working to identify the four people captured on camera near the Vuela complex.
The burglary comes even as Wilsonville's overall property crime rate has been falling. The rate dropped to 21.3 incidents per 1,000 residents in 2024, continuing a decline from 27.0 in 2023, according to the Lake Oswego Review. Even so, property crimes remain the most common call type for the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, which contracts local police services for Wilsonville and logged 14,312 total service calls citywide in 2024.
Neighbors Step In to Help Cover the Loss
Following the police appeals for tips, community members began organizing donation efforts to help replace the nonprofit's stolen office technology, according to the Facebook post shared in the Salem/Keizer Crime and Oregon news group. Those contributions are aimed at covering the costs of replacement equipment.
This is not the first time Wilsonville has dealt with a string of break-ins drawing police attention. Hoodline previously covered a burglary spree in the city that ended in arrests last year. For now, investigators are focused on the four people seen near Vuela in the early hours of Sept. 1, while Wilsonville Community Sharing works to keep serving families who depend on it.
