By Tom Davidson
Herald Staff Writer
SHENANGO VALLEY
June 18, 2009 10:08 pm
—
In a trend that the leader of the Shenango Valley Ministerial Association is calling disgraceful, three more churches were broken into between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
“It is a shame to know that times have gotten so hard that people will got to extremes to get some money,” the Rev. Joseph Davis, pastor of Friendship Baptist Church in Farrell and president of the minister’s association, said. “It’s just a sad situation. It’s a disgrace for anyone to want to do that.”
At about 10 a.m. Thursday, Southwest Mercer County Regional police cruisers filled the circular driveway of Presbyterian Church of West Middlesex on Main Street as church trustee Dennis Shacklock stood outside scratching his head at news that his church was burglarized.
A member stopped to drop off some things when she reported the burglary, he said.
“They ransacked all of the offices,” ripping open a safe and going through places where money might be kept, Shacklock said.
Checks made out to the church were found laying on the floor in a mess, he said.
From the extent of the mess, it appears the burglars spent a while wrecking the church, he said.
A Nintendo Wii video game system, the church’s audio-visual system and other electronics were left untouched, making it apparent to Shacklock that the burglars were looking for money — something church members have learned isn’t safe in the building. A previous burglary a couple years ago taught church members to not keep cash there and to keep things locked up, Shacklock said.
Before police were finished investigating the scene they were dispatched a couple miles down the road to Wheatland, where another burglary was reported at Wheatland-Farrell United Methodist Church.
The church secretary-treasurer reported it and she was visibly shaken. It’s the second time in six weeks that the church, located on Mercer Avenue at Vaughn Avenue, has been broken into.
The last time the culprits took out an air conditioner to get in. That time they took cash, checks and credit cards which have since been replaced, church pastor the Rev. Richard Carlson said.
This time they made a mess, but apparently only made away with “$2 or $3” from a Sunday school classroom, Rev. Carlson said.
They went through his office, another one, Sunday school rooms and the sanctuary in search of cash, presumably, he said.
“We found nothing missing, but a lot of things strewn around,” he said. The burglars pried open a basement window to get in and left using the front door, apparently, Rev. Carlson said.
Southwest Mercer County Regional Police Det. Capt. Doug Long circled the building Thursday, looking for anything amiss. Fresh wood surrounded a newly-secured air conditioner and a ladder outside the church was padlocked to the ground.
The burglars ransacked the church’s offices and other areas, Southwest Chief Riley Smoot said.
“This appears to be a continuation of what’s been going on in the (Shenango) Valley,” Smoot said.
Because of summer schedules canceling Wednesday night choir practice and Boy Scout meetings at the West Middlesex church, it isn’t known when it was broken into. In Wheatland, a vacation Bible school session meant that people were in the church until about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, a member told police. The church was secure when she left, she said.
Police were busy investigating both incidents, Smoot said, and he planned to speak with the valley’s other police chiefs to come up with a strategy to buck the trend.
“It’s really important that ministers and maintenance people check and double check the doors and windows at the church,” Smoot said. “Have the neighbors keep aware and if they see anything, call 911.”
A few hours later, about 5 p.m. Thursday, the third burglary was reported at Second Baptist Church on Walnut Street in Sharpsville. A cleaning lady who was too shaken to give her name reported it to Sharpsville police, who were assisted at the scene by South Pymatuning Township police.
These break-ins were the latest in what’s turning into a rash of crimes at churches.
Sometime Monday or Tuesday, someone broke into Holy Cross Orthodox Church, 950 Maple Drive in Hermitage, and stole cash and a laptop computer. Also during that time someone broke into Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, 5139 E. State St. in Hermitage. Between noon May 31 and 10 a.m. June 1, someone broke into the office of Lebanon Presbyterian Church, Lackawannock Township, and stole cash and a computer, state police said.
“Obviously the whole idea” of burglarizing a church is disturbing, Rev. Carlson said. “Why would (they) do that to a church?”
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