TEXAS COMPUTERS STOLEN http://galvestondailynews.com/story/233682

Church burglarized of $13,000 in equipment By Chris Paschenko The Daily News Published May 26, 2011 GALVESTON — An island church, on the mend since Hurricane Ike flooded the sanctuary with 3 feet of storm surge, was burglarized of about $13,000 in musical instruments, cash and computers. Thieves even took the church’s vault. The Rev. David L. Everson Sr., pastor of First Union Baptist Church, 1027 Ave. K., in Galveston, vowed Wednesday not to let the burglaries interrupt Sunday services. “We cannot stop,” Everson said. “I will not let anything such as this stop the word of God.” Everson spoke with detectives Wednesday morning. He suspects someone familiar with the church, aside from the roughly 200 members, is responsible. Galveston police found no signs of forced entry, police Capt. Jeff Heyse said. “They definitely took their time,” Heyse said. “They took a bunch of items and had to move a lot of stuff.” Based on the weight of the church vault and hanging speakers, Everson believes the Monday and Tuesday night burglaries involved more than one person. “They knew exactly where to go and stole the vault that was bolted down,” Everson said. “There were papers and money in the vault ... The vault weighed no less than 100 pounds. It had to be more than one person.” The church also had speakers stolen that were chained to the top of a balcony, Everson said. “It appears they unchained the top of it,” Everson said. “Someone had to be downstairs to catch those big speakers.” The burglary report listed items stolen, such as a drum set, microphones, amplifiers, computers, camera and video recording equipment. The church, which was built in 1955, had to be gutted from Ike’s Sept. 13, 2008, storm surge. The hurricane caused widespread flooding and damaged much of the Upper Texas Coast. Beside the storm-damaged parsonage, the church was on the mend, Everson said. “We were coming toward the end, and we just got our video system exactly the way we wanted it to take good pictures,” Everson said. “We just purchased a new camera. We lost all of that.” The culprits left footprints where they hauled the items outside, Everson said. Although the church is insured, Everson called the circumstance heartbreaking. “It will affect us, struggling after the storm to rebuild,” he said.