Magical Forest thefts spur efforts to tighten security

When an organization gives so much to a community, it is hard to imagine why people would steal from it.

Opportunity Village is beefing up its security after two thefts occurred in January at the Magical Forest. Two generators and a video projector were stolen on separate occasions just days before the Magical Forest was to close for the season Jan. 7. The items' values are unknown because , like almost everything in the Magical Forest, they were donated.

Opportunity Village is a nonprofit organization that supports people with disabilities. It provides employment, job training, cultural enrichment and other services for disabled adults.

Opportunity Village is asking for help from the community regarding information about the blue generators that were being used to power the lights on the trees at the parking lot entrance. Video surveillance showed a man on a scooter used bolt cutters to break the chains that held the generators. He made two trips in order to haul the generators away.

A Sony projector and DVD player inside the cookie factory in the Magical Forest were stolen the next night. The suspect kicked open the wooden door to the cookie factory, damaging a mural, and used a power drill to remove the projector.

Anyone with information is asked to call Opportunity Village at 259-3700 or the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department at 311.

"It's upsetting," said Opportunity Village's associate executive director, Linda Smith. "It actually makes you cry. The staff just spent 49 nights and 49 days standing out in the cold trying to support our community."

Smith said she does not understand why anyone would steal from a charity, especially considering whom it hurts.

"My son, Chris, has Down syndrome," Smith said. "He is receiving job training. He is earning a paycheck and putting that paycheck back into the community. He has a chance at a life that we all take for granted."

Opportunity Village paid out $2 million in training wages last year and $6 million in wages to people working in the community.

Smith said the organization is 80 percent self-funded and saves taxpayers $22 million each year because its clients earn wages instead of relying on government assistance.

"Instead of spending that money on our clients, we have to spend it elsewhere," Smith said.

There were two security teams working those nights that failed to stop the thefts. Opportunity Village's director of event operations, Steve Koontz, said they have installed motion-activated lights and will be increasing the height of their fences.

"We know we have things in here of value because we're trying to make it a place that's better to visit every year," Koontz said. "We haven't tried to turn it into a fortress because we don't want the clients to feel like they're inside a jail. Now we're basically being forced to (do that)."

Thefts at the Magical Forest are nothing new, Smith said. People have stolen a golf cart, a statue, security cameras, chain saws, tools and more.

During the 2010 season, Smith said, someone bashed all eight Opportunity Village vehicles in the parking lot, rendering them unable to pick up and drop off their clients that day.

"What kind of person does something like that?" Smith asked. "All you've got to do is spend one day walking in the shoes of the people we serve to realize how lucky you are to have choices, and you choose to do that. It's incomprehensible to me."

As it always has, Opportunity Village is relying on the public for help, especially those who can help with security needs.

"We need the community support so we can support the community," Smith said. "One of the greatest things about Las Vegas is that people do care. Las Vegas gets a bad rap across the country, but whenever Opportunity Village needed help, the community was there."

Contact View education reporter Jeff Mosier at jmosier@viewnews.com or 224-5524.