Make wishtv.com your home page

Several Indianapolis churches report burglaries

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – It might be the last place you’d think burglars would target, but several churches in the area are reporting burglaries to police.

Most of the crimes are happening in the overnight hours when nobody is there.

The most recent case happened around 3:30 Wednesday morning. According to police reports, there have been at least four churches burglarized since Saturday.

“It was a crowbar or a hammer or something they just beat a hole in it,” said Pastor Anthony Wallace I.

He is one of the leaders at New Spiritual Life Christian Church on East 30th Street. He says someone cut a hole through the garage door to get inside early Saturday morning.

“My first thought is my Lord, of all the places that you could burglarize, you would burglarize a church?” said Pastor Lena Middleton, also of New Spiritual Life Christian Church.

The person or people who broke in kicked down two interior doors. The pastors say they got away with a television, but nothing else.

“I don’t know if there is a thought that we have some sort of secret safe hidden within the church with a lot of money in it, but for most churches they don’t keep money on premises,” said Middleton.

The pastors say they already have a security system in place and police were on scene just minutes after the alarm went off, but those responsible were still able to get away. Now church leaders are making changes so something like this doesn’t happen again.

“New lights, extra cameras, more motion detectors,” said Middleton.

They are changes this group said they are willing to make. The pastors said they are going to pray for those responsible and they won’t let this crime impact their work.

“They are not going to deter us from what we are trying to do,” said Wallace.

“Lord help them you know, what mind set must you be in to break into a church in the middle of the night,” said Middleton.

Right now there is no word on if these cases may be connected.

Never miss another Facebook post from WISH-TV

Crime Map
Use Search Bars Above To Search Crime Data