VIDEO — Police: Man Stole $400 from NYC Catholic Church’s Offering Box

Police are searching for a man accused of stealing money from a church in New York City on May 24th and leaving the building damaged.

The suspect made his way inside Our Lady of Angels on Sedgwick Avenue in Kingsbridge Heights and hovered around the confessional are until the mass ended, police sources told the New York Post.

Around 11:00 p.m., he allegedly swiped $400 from the offering box and fled the building, breaking a window in the process. Authorities said he got into the building through a window and left behind $2,400 in damages, News 12 reported Monday.

The New York City Police Department (NYPD) CrimeStoppers shared surveillance footage of the suspect on Sunday. The recording appeared to be taken from inside the church.

The suspect was wearing a baseball cap, hoodie, dark colored pants, dark colored shoes, and had a goatee. The man looked around as he entered the building before turning his back to the camera:

An archdiocese spokesperson confirmed the damage but said it had since been repaired, noting there were no injuries as a result of the break-in.

“Thankfully, nobody was hurt in any way, and there does not seem to be any impact on the church or community,” the spokesperson explained.

Police are asking anyone with information to contact them. Meanwhile, residents told News 12 they were shocked someone would target a church in that way.

“That’s unfortunate. Yeah, I don’t know why somebody would do that to a church,” one person said, while another commented, “That’s terrible.”

In 2022, a Brooklyn church was left shaken after the theft of its historic $2 million tabernacle that was from the 1890s, according to Breitbart News.

The incident happened at the St. Augustine Roman Catholic Church and the outlet noted “Figures of angels near the receptacle were decapitated and the Holy Eucharist was strewn across its altar, which is an act of desecration.”