Police continue to investigate a two-night spree that damaged or looted downtown buildings, including a church and a nonprofit charity for pets.

The Spay and Neuter Thrift Shop at 600 Broadway was one of five locations hit in a 24-hour period from the early morning hours of Wednesday, March 30, to late in the same day, Detective Sgt. Josh Gregory said Monday.

An intruder broke the plexiglass at the center back door and entered, Marilyn Dito, a thrift shop volunteer said.

Inside, the entire jewelry case was emptied. They also tore the place apart.

“They broke into the locked cabinet then the safe for our till money and donations,” she said. “To add insult to injury, two of our fire extinguishers were discharged throughout the store. It was a huge mess.”

Neighboring Patty’s Wicker Cafe lost sentimental pieces, petty cash and kitchen equipment.

“They broke out the back window. and stole a collectors’ ‘Maltese Falcon,’ poured out of the same mold as the original one,” owner Patty Strain said. “They took strange things: a kitchen scale and a can of PAM cooking spray.”

Strain estimated damage at about $350 to $400. “They probably $15 for the silver out of the till where I count my change,” she said. “And where they broke that window.”

Rev. Sue Irvin of Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church at 320 First Ave. said even weeks later, the incident is hard to talk about.

“We had a window in our office area broken,” Irvin said. “We had some evidence that whoever did it wandered through the building looking for money and they found our petty cash and some assistance money for people in the community.”

As in the thrift shop, the fire extinguisher had been moved, although it had not been used, Irvin said.

“It was very difficult for the congregation to know that the church had been broken into,” she said. “We are working together as a congregation to move forward and to practice forgiveness.”

When Donna Denhart, who handles billing and other duties at Coastal Eye Care on S. Holladay Dr., came in to work Wednesday morning, she noticed something in the middle of the hall glistening.

“Then I realized that listening was glass and realized the thing in the middle of the hall was a rock,” Denhart said. “We went on a little bit further down the hall and found out that it was my office window that the rock was thrown into.”

Like the other break-ins, the pin was pulled on the fire extinguisher. The shop was also vandalized and looted.

Around 9 p.m. Wednesday night Seaside officers responded to the Nike Outlet Store at 1111 N. Roosevelt for a report of a burglary. As in the other incidents, an unidentified male threw a rock through the front door and entered the business.

Toya’s Chiropractic on Fourth Avenue was also hit.

“I don’t know why they chose those places over others,” Gregory said. “This person probably scoped these places out and decided that it was time to do what he wanted to do. With them all occurring at the same time frame, we believe this is our suspect.”

The person is believed to have left the area, he said.

Police don’t understand why the fire extinguishers were tampered with. “That baffled us as well,” Gregory said. “When we figure that out, we’ll put it in the report.”

While impacted businesses are still compiling insurance reports, Gregory estimated an aggregate loss of $9,000, including property damage and stolen goods.

Gregory said he believed this was a “random rash” of incidents rather than an indication of a larger crime wave in Seaside.

To help deter future incidents, he advised businesses to use security cameras when possible. “It really helps our cases tremendously.”

After the thrift shop break-in, the community has been supportive and kind, Dito said. The shop off Broadway along the river walkway operates on a small budget to support spaying and neutering of household pets.

“They’re going out of their way to contribute what they can to help defray the losses,” she said. “Our landlord has been responsive to our needs as well.”