COMANCHE Okla_ A recent rash
of break- ins at churches in the town of Comanche
has the community and police on alert.
The most recent
burglaries happened a little over a week ago, when two churches were hit in one
night. Police said the thief broke into the First
Baptist Church
on Oak Main and the Patterson
Avenue Baptist
Church, which are just a
few blocks away from of one another.
They said the thief ransacked them and stole some expensive electronic
equipment and money.
They are not
sure whether these burglaries are being committed by one person or a group, but
they do say they have some very good evidence that could point them in the
right direction.
"We are
still very blessed and," Pastor Trent Young said. "You wonder why people would
break into a church. We're kind of misled if we think that church people will
be protected from bad things. It's not realistic. So, we know a God that walks
with us through the bad things."
Pastor Young said
that's the way he chooses to think about the break-in now, but when he walked
into the church that Sunday and found his office ransacked, he was in disbelief
and in fear.
"I began
to see things trashed and all over the place," Young said. "My office caught the
brunt of it."
Comanche Police
Chief Mike Jones said he believes his department has some very good leads on a
possible suspect.
"We've got
evidence that we've found at the scene," Jones said. "We have sent it to OSBI
in Lawton to
see if we're going to have any luck getting fingerprints."
He said in the
past three months, burglaries of businesses in Comanche have been rare, not to
mention churches.
"It's
pretty desperate to steal from a church," Jones said. "If the people needed
something, the church would have been more than happy to help them out if they
could."
"We would've
done everything to help you," Young said. "It makes me think its not
necessarily a need that they have, a physical need that they can't afford to
buy food. It's more just a destructive behavior and sadly they're hurting
themselves."
Pastor Young said
fortunately, no one was in the building during the break-in. He said the break-ins
have changed the way he and others secure the church after hours.
