Some churches in Waterloo Region are keeping an extra eye out on Sundays after a string of thefts during busy services in recent months.
The thieves don’t follow any denominational lines — they’ve struck Catholic, Pentecostal and Evangelical churches while parishioners gather for worship, taking keys from inside the building and stealing cars out of the parking lot.
Police feel there’s enough of a pattern they need to warn church-goers to keep an eye out for suspicious people hanging about during services.
After a busy Easter Sunday at St. Francis of Assisi on Blueridge Avenue last week, Rev. Peter Pelletier couldn’t find his silver Chrysler Cirrus. At some point during the Catholic church’s packed masses, someone entered the private room where the mass is prepared and stole his keys, he said.
These thieves have take ecumenism too far.
7 comments
Wow, and I just read this from the Omaha World Herald about painting thefts:
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=2366381
Perhaps I’m naive, but how do the thieves know which keys go to which car? Are they casing the churches?
I would assume that they are taking keys with remote-unlock mechanisms. They key itself, and possibly the remote, would tell you what car Make it is for, meaning they just have to hit the unlock button on the remote to see what opens up.
I always thought Catholics leave their coats on so they can get out of mass quicker. The thieves probably got confused by this and thought the sacristy was a coat room.
Excuse me-but has anyone heard of POCKETS? Why do you leave keys out? I had my purse taken at our Latin Mass chapel in 2005 (on my birthday, no less!), but my keys were in my skirt pocket, so my car wasn’t stolen! I never keep my keys in my purse-I wear clothes with pockets!
Dear Irishgirl,
That was my thought.
I hate bulky pockets & so my keys are left in the pew w/my rosary pouch & Magnificat or breviary (if I brought them along). I wish men had a socially acceptable “purse” option. I’m so jealous.