Video shows man stealing $1K from Buddhist temple donation box; suspect arrested

ONTARIO, Calif. (KTLA) -- A suspect was arrested after surveillance cameras captured a man stealing about $1,000 from a donation box inside a Buddhist temple in an unincorporated area near Ontario, officials said Sunday.

Daniel Warn, a 32-year-old Bloomington resident, was arrested last Friday after the theft occurred on Tuesday afternoon at the Buddhist Temple of America, located just outside Ontario's western city limits at 5615 Howard St., San Bernardino County sheriff's officials said in a news release.

About 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Warn allegedly entered the temple through an unlocked door before surveillance video caught him forcing open a donation box and taking roughly $1,000 in cash, authorities said.

On Monday afternoon, investigators released the surveillance footage, which shows the thief struggling with the box for about 4 minutes — at one point appearing to drop it on his foot — before busting the bottom off to access its contents. He then loads the cash into a backpack and flees through the front door.

Warn was identified as the suspect following a "thorough investigation," the sheriff's release states, and booked into West Valley Detention Center upon his arrest. He allegedly initially gave officers a false name.