Break-in at Sacramento Chinese American organization leaves major damage, members shaken

A break-in at the Sacramento chapter of the Chinese American Soo Yuen Benevolent Association last Monday left the organization’s building with extensive damages and its members deeply shaken.

The Sacramento chapter of the SYBA operates at a building on J Street directly across from Downtown Commons, a location the chapter has called home since 1970. Last Monday, the association’s property manager went to the building to pick up mail when he noticed water leaking from the second floor, according to Eric Fong, SYBA Sacramento president.

When the property manager went upstairs, he discovered a stranger there, Fong said, and quickly ran out of the building to call the police. According to Officer Karl Chan, Sacramento Police Department spokesperson, the suspect was detained by officers and identified as Brian Myers.

Evidence suggested that Myers, 49, had been living in the building “for a little time,” Chan said, and was experiencing homelessness. The break-in is not currently being investigated as hate-motivated.

“Our detectives are aware of what’s going on around the nation ... if they’re able to identify any other circumstances that would change (the incident’s motive), then we will amend the report,” Chan said.

Fong estimated the break-in left thousands of dollars in damages. Several ancestral prayer items were destroyed, as well as the fire sprinkler heads, chandeliers, furniture and member-donated paintings. Fong added that there was also extensive water damage and the decorative dragon heads adorning the front door had been ripped out.

The organization has dealt with vandalism such as graffiti and broken windows in the past, but nothing like this. A formal estimate of the financial fallout from the break-in will be conducted Tuesday, but Fong said he already knows the organization will have to do some major fundraising to cover the insurance costs.

“That put further financial burden to our already cash-strapped association,” Fong said.

“I’m shocked by the damage to Soo Yuen Benevolent Society,” Sacramento City Councilwoman Katie Valenzuela, who oversees District 4, said in a statement. “We want Soo Yuen Benevolent Society to know that they are valued and supported by this community. That’s why my office will be working with them and their President Eric Fong to help raise funds that may be necessary to restore their space, will join them to clean up the damage, and be looking for more ways that the City of Sacramento can support them and the important role they have in our community.”

The Soo Yuen Benevolent Association is a nationwide organization of Chinese Americans descended from three families — Lei, sometimes Anglicized as Louie, Fong and Kuang — originating more than 100 years ago.

This incident comes at a time when anti-Asian violence and hate crimes have been on the rise, including in Sacramento, where a mutilated cat was dropped outside a Chinese-owned business and the AAPI community has been on high alert. The uptick has even spawned volunteer-driven community patrols in Asian American enclaves like Little Saigon.

Members of Sacramento’s SYBA are fearful about returning to their old meeting spot again, Fong said. His own fear is compounded by his sense of pain, of the organization’s needs being overlooked, he said, after making several calls in the past to police about vandalism to the building and homeless people sleeping on the steps.

“I told all the members, if you go in, have at least two people, make sure there’s nothing happening before you go inside the building,” Fong said. “We all fear (for) our safety, we’re all on edge.”

This story was originally published April 12, 2021 at 1:35 PM.