CLEVELAND — A church in Cleveland's Old Brooklyn neighborhood is struggling with what is becoming a never ending problem: several break-ins by burglars. Now the congregation is asking for your help.
In broad daylight on Broadview Road, a Ring camera captured the moment thieves took off with thousands of dollars in equipment at Refine Church.
"Basically, I got a phone call from one of the guys from the church. He said, 'Pastor, the air sprayer is missing, the paint sprayer is missing, the compressor is missing,'" says Pastor Luis Vizcarrondo.
Vizcarrondo says the thieves went right through a door, but not before they cased the building. They even drove a pickup truck through the parking lot. The suspects also took most of the flooring the church had just purchased, plus some of the church members' seating.
Refine Church has not been broken into once, but three times.
"I go and look and I notice storm screen meshes are up and there's handprints on all the windows looking like they were trying," Vizcarrondo adds.
Fortunately, Vizcarrondo says they were unsuccessful. The Cleveland Division of Police was able to get prints from at least one of the robberies.
The 33-year-old pastor says his church is here so he can work with the unfortunate nearby. The building has history. In 1867, it was a Polish church that also served the community.
Now, the community is taking from a church that is trying to build a community of hope.
"We don't know if these people are just trying to stop us from what we are doing," Vizcarrondo says. "There are so many what ifs."
If you recognize the truck or the people shown in the above video, please contact the Cleveland Division of Police.
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