Man suspected of vandalizing crucifix at Oakland Park Catholic mission
OAKLAND PARK - A priest believes a man yanked Jesus off a crucifix, broke it into pieces, then posed for cameras outside the Catholic mission and soup kitchen in Oakland Park.
It is the fifth time someone has taken the crucifix in the last two years, Father Bob Caudill of All Saints Catholic Mission and Soup Kitchen said.
"Everybody's looking for Jesus," he said. "But I think we need to put (the suspect) in jail only because someone, he, seems to be not completely walking rationally."
It happened Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. and surveillance cameras caught pieces of the crime.
Video showed a man approaching the front of the building and looking at the crucifix before the camera turned away.
"I don't know if he was talking or praying to Jesus," Caudill said. "I'm hoping he got a prayer in before he took (the crucifix)."
Witnesses next door heard noises and then took a photo of a man they said took the crucifix. Those witnesses said the man tossed the plaster figure of Jesus over a fence. The man posed for cameras as he ran off, according to witnesses.
Caudill installed cameras after someone committed a similar crime last November. One day after that damage, workers installed a replacement with metal clamps, screws and straps around the waist of Jesus.
None of it stopped the latest rip-off.
However, witness photos give mission leaders and investigators a different feel.
"When I saw his picture, I'm like oh my gosh, I know this guy," Caudill said. "He would come and we would say hi and he would just walk on. There was no anger. There was never any words exchanged. He never yelled or screamed or did anything impolite. He obeyed the rules inside. He ate and then he left. (There was) nothing to it and I don't think he was angry at the (witnesses). He was letting them take pictures. He just had a mission to do. Well, Jesus is going back, in one form or another."
Mission leaders will either paint a mural of the crucifix on the front wall or return the broken crucifix, if it can be pieced back together, to the cross.
"BSO's Oakland Park District detectives are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident," Gerdy St. Louis, Public Information Officer for the Broward Sheriff's Office said.
Anyone with information on this crime should contact Broward Crime Stopers at 954-493-TIPS.