Medina County Crime Stoppers is offering up to a $1,000 REWARD for the arrest and grand jury indictment of individual(s) involved in recent burglaries and thefts at area churches. Four churches in Devine and Natalia that have been the victims of burglary and or vandalizing these past few weeks. One church reported losses of an estimated $4,000 in stolen equipment. This must be stopped.
Crimes have included everything from stolen electronics to slashing tires.
According to Devine PD, two churches were burglarized in Devine on the same weekend two weeks ago, reporting that “electronics and musical instruments were taken.”
One church in Natalia has been broken into six times in the past year and a half, including that some weekend that the Devine churches were burglarized. Another Natalia church has had two tires slashed on separate occasions, and a shed broken into and items taken that weekend as well.
“We’ve had a TV taken, a VCR, 3 doors kicked in, a lawn mower…It’s really more vandalism and destruction than anything, but it’s very frustrating to spend money on repairing and replacing silly things instead of being able to spend it on our ministry,” said local Pastor Leonard Dossey.
Vandals also left obscenities written on the windows of the church.
Medina County Crime Stoppers is asking for your help in solving these crimes. Call 1-800-367-2833. You do not have to give your name. An anonymous code number will be assigned to you. The reward will be paid to you by special arrangement if your information does lead to an arrest or grand jury indictment. Anyone giving information to Crime Stoppers, by law, your name cannot be mentioned, nor can you be required to testify in a court of law.