Man impersonated priest to steal cash from NYC church, police say
NEW YORK -- Police are searching for a suspect accused of impersonating a priest and then robbing a church in Bayside, Queens.
The suspect is being investigated for a string of other similar crimes.
"I was told the priest is in the house, so I went to greet him," Father Peter Rayder said.
Rayder says on Sunday, just before 12:30 p.m. Mass, an unknown man entered the American Martyrs Church on Bell Boulevard and told a senior clergy member he was a priest visiting from Rome to participate in Mass.
"He basically told monsignor, who's in his 80s, he said to him, 'I'm staying in the rectory. I need to get my ALB to con-celebrate Mass," Rayder said.
Police said the fake priest used religious terms to sound the part, saying he needed to get his robe in the rectory, a residence for clergy members, where he snuck into one of the bedrooms and stole $900 cash.
Father Rayder says when he found out a stranger had been let in, he went to find him to ask for certification.
"I said, 'Do you have your letter of suitability?' He said, 'It's in my car.'; He ran out and never came back," Rayder said. "He violated everybody."
Staff posted his picture all over the church in case he tries to return. Police described him as 45 to 55 years old, 5-foot-9, 190 pounds, bald with a beard.
"It is really shocking. It's not the first time that that's happened around here," one member of the congregation said.
Authorities said the suspect has been linked to several other similar incident in New York, and across the country.
On March 1, the Roman Catholic diocese said the same man tried to get into the Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville in Suffolk County. The diocese also sent CBS New York surveillance pictures it believes is the impersonator attempting to gain access to the rectory at St. Thomas Aquinas in Brooklyn back in October.
American Martyrs Church said the suspect is also being investigated in Texas, California and Florida. Members of the congregation say they have faith he'll soon be caught.
"I'll practice forgiveness, after justice, penance," Father Rayder said.
In the meantime, the diocese sent out an alert to all clergy members and their congregations, and said it is working with the NYPD and FBI.
Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.
