Two Macomb County teens and a 20-year-old from St. Clair County are accused in a series of church thefts, Tammy Stables Battaglia reports in the Free Press.
They were scheduled to be arraigned on safecracking and theft charges today in Shelby Township district court, she writes.
Investigators arrested the trio Monday after an early-morning break-in at the Speedway gas station at 23 Mile and M-53, Shelby Township Police Detective Lt. Tom Kohl said. . . .
After executing search warrants later Monday, officers found church offering envelopes, checks and other items hidden in a storage unit and the suspects’ homes, where they lived with their parents, Kohl said.
Battaglia provides details from a media briefing by Shelby Township Police Chief Roland Woelkers, who links the suspects to crimes at these churches:
- St. Therese of Lisieux Parish in Shelby Township, where more than $40,000 and two chalices were taken Easter night.
- St. Lawrence Catholic Community in Utica, where Ash Wednesday offerings allegedly were swiped by 17-year-old Logan Gerring, who worked there.
- St. Luke Lutheran Church & School on South Nunneley in Clinton Township, where items were taken after Easter services and now are recovered.
In addition to Gerring, who's from Sterling Heights, the suspects include Eric Eby, 19, of Shelby Township.
