KENTUCKY SIX ARRESTED FOR STEALING COMPUTERS FROM CHURCHES The Richmond Register - Six teens arrested in 11 church burglaries:

Six teens arrested in 11 church burglaries
By Kelly Foreman
Register News Writer

The miniature Plexiglas and plywood church that stood in the children’s hallway at Eastside Baptist Church was more than just an offering plate.

Its walls, built by the hands of a church member, held money intended to pay for two worship centers for the church’s youth and children, classroom space for them and the completion of a basketball court on which future generations could play.

“It was one thing for us to have the cash taken,” said Associate Pastor John Tussey. “That was kind of a blow. But when they came back the second time and took the church, that for us was a new level.”

The miniature church, all the money it held, a video projector, the senior pastor’s laptop computer, some flat screen monitors and other electronic items all were stolen from Eastside during three separate burglaries.

“It almost felt like it was a deeper violation of our privacy,” Tussey said of the miniature church theft. “The first time they came in, they stole the cash. This time, they actually took something personal. It was a struggle for quite a few people to understand why they would want to do that.”

But the Eastside congregation wasn’t alone in its loss. Ten other Madison County churches also were burglarized, police say, by a group of six teens between the months of October and December.

Eastside Baptist was the first church to be hit, said Richmond Police Detective Eric Long. Before police caught a break in the case, Victory Tabernacle Church, Waco Baptist Church, Flatwoods Christian Church, Union City Christian Church, Richmond Church of Christ, Mount Pleasant Christian Church, College Hill Methodist Church, Red House Baptist Church, Red House United Methodist Church and the House of Prayer also reportedly were burglarized.

The suspects

Following a lengthy, multi-agency investigation, five 18-year-old friends and a 17-year-old male juvenile all from Richmond have been arrested in connection with the burglaries, said Kentucky State Police Trooper First Class Stuart Adams. Kevin Intorre, Michael Henderson, Robert Coney, Eddie Campbell Jr., Derek Ward and the juvenile all are charged with various counts of third-degree burglary.

“They all are friends, they all run together and they all knew about the other ones,” Adams said. “They were comparing notes. Just like at Eastside, when one group heard what was left in the church, they would go steal what they heard was in the church. It was the same at Victory Tabernacle. Quite a bit of money was stolen the first time and they thought there was more they missed, so the other group went back to try to get that money.”

All of the burglaries occurred late at night, Adams said. Methods of entry varied from breaking windows, cutting window screens, wiggling handles until they came loose or simply walking through unlocked doors.

“They targeted churches because they were easy to get into,” Adams said. “They chose churches, with the exception of Eastside, that were way out in the county. If there was an alarm or something that went off, they knew it would take somebody a little bit longer to respond to.”

The evidence

A break in the case came the first week of December when Madison County Sheriff’s Deputies Stacy Cummins and Sgt. Mike Marcum responded to an alarm at the House of Prayer on Mule Shed Lane.

“During their investigation they found a wallet belonging to one of the suspects inside the church,” said Sheriff’s Detective Bruce Thomas.

The wallet allegedly belonged to Campbell. Later that morning, the deputies went to Campbell’s house and took him to the sheriff’s department for questioning. From there, the case began to snowball as information about the other churches and suspects unfolded.

“They just started admitting things to us,” Thomas said. “They wanted to turn on each other.”

The sheriff’s department began talking to Adams and KSP Trooper Brian Reeder, who also was working the investigations of several church burglaries, and Long, who was investigating the Eastside burglaries.

“We caught a break and one of them got stupid,” Adams said. “The only good thing they did, most of them, was tell us what they did. Upon interviewing those guys, they led us to these other churches that were broken into.”

The stolen goods

Like the Eastside burglaries, money, laptop and desktop computers, video and photo cameras and various electronics were the main items stolen from the churches.

“They really hit Eastside hard,” Adams said. “It’s several thousands of dollars worth of money and equipment combined. Some of these computers , if they couldn’t get into them, knowing they were password protected, they would throw it out the window. They stole a digital camera and couldn’t figure out how to turn it on so they threw it out the window.”

Only cash was taken from the Eastside church replica during the first burglary, Long said.

“The second time they got back in, they took all the change to a Coinstar at Kroger in Winchester and cashed it in,” he said. “It was about $300 to $400.”

Tussey said church members are still unsure how the suspects removed the church replica from the building.

“It stood about 3 feet tall, was 2 1/2 feet wide and 2 1/2 deep,” he said. “It was a rather large church. It was heavy and it was upstairs.”

After cashing in the change, Long said the teens allegedly threw the replica off the side of the road somewhere in Jackson County.

“We’re always disappointed when things like this happen in our community, especially to us as a church,” Tussey said. “We prayed on Sunday morning for whoever it was, that they would find grace from God and that they also would receive help. People rob for a reason. It’s either because it’s something they get a thrill from or they have a need. We want to make sure these people get the help they need to become the people God intended them to be.”

The charges

Henderson and Ward are accused of burglarizing together Waco Baptist, Flatwoods Baptist, Richmond Church of Christ, Mount Pleasant Christian Church, College Hill United Methodist Church, Red House Baptist and Red House United Methodist. Ward also is accused of involvement in the burglaries of Eastside Baptist and Union City Christian. Henderson also is accused of involvement in the burglaries of Victory Tabernacle, Union City Christian and House of Prayer.

Intorre and the male juvenile are accused of burglarizing Eastside, Victory Tabernacle and Union City Christian. Coney is charged solely for burglarizing Eastside and Campbell is charged solely for burglarizing of the House of Prayer.

All six also are suspected to be involved in a rash of car thefts from this past summer, Adams said, as well as the theft of more than a ton of copper wire from Eastern Kentucky University valued at about $4,000. Charges are pending in both cases from KSP, RPD and EKU police departments.

The teens will face one count of third-degree burglary for each church at which they were allegedly involved and could face one to five years in prison for each count if convicted.

“I would like for them to go before all these congregations and apologize, but that’s my opinion,” Adams said. “I think it would be a good thing as part of their punishment. I think that would be about as hard on them as anything else.”

The burglaries began one night when two of the teens allegedly went to the church to spend the night, Adams said.

“They aren’t homeless, but they don’t have a good family life,” Adams said. “They got in there and found some money and I think it just happened. One of them got to talking about how easy it was to do this and the other ones just decided to try it, too. Then they got together periodically and all went out at different times.”

Kelly Foreman can be reached at kforeman@richmondregister.com or 624-6694.