Police Investigating 2 Church Burglaries In Upper Darby
UPPER DARBY, Pa. (CBS) – Police are investigating two church burglaries that occurred in Upper Darby on Wednesday night.
Upper Darby police say one burglary occurred at St. Laurence Catholic Church located on West Chester Pike and the other at a church property located on the 7700 block of Wayne Avenue.
In both incidents, change was taken from the church poor boxes, said police.
"You break into the poor box to steal money that's given by parishioners or churchgoers and some scumbag walks away with the change. Give me a break," said Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.
Chitwood says the burglar, or burglars, also ransacked part of the connecting school at St. Laurence as money was also missing from a teacher's desk drawer.
Warren Usner, who began volunteering in the building 30 years ago, was upset to learn of the crime.
"They busted a door down. Really nothing was in there but chairs," "said Usner.
Chitwood believes the intended target here was computers but there were none available because they were stolen last year in another attack on the building. According to Usner, thieves made away with a small amount of money.
"It's just unfortunate, nothing sacred anymore," said Usner.
Chitwood says the building made up of five churches had no alarm or camera, while St. Laurence had both, but they were not working at the time of the break-in.
"If you got an alarm, make sure it's working. If you got cameras, make sure they're working," said Chitwood.
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 610-734-7693.
