NORTH MIAMI, FLA. (WSVN) - Police are searching for two people who burglarized and vandalized a North Miami church.
Memorial Highway Baptist Church is supposed to be a place of solitude and peace. Now, it serves as the scene of a burglary.
Lude Georges opened the doors of the church for a funeral Saturday morning and discovered the damage. “I saw glass on the ground,” said Georges.
“There’s the big brick,” said Pastor David Eugene as he pointed to the area where a large cylindrical brick shattered the glass door. A piece of plywood now stands where the glass pane once did.
In the sanctuary of the church, about $30,000 in computer and sound equipment was stolen. “This is really horrible that someone can break into a place of worship, something that is specifically here to access the community,” Eugene said.
Surveillance footage shows one of the thieves carrying some of the equipment. Saturday’s funeral and Sunday’s services went on as planned but with little music.
“What we’re asking is for the community to help us because, on Sunday, worship was a challenge,” said Georges. “We couldn’t worship. We barely were able to worship,” Georges said.
The pastor is holding no grudges and hopes the two thieves will realize the error of their ways. “My message to these gentlemen is this: They need to open their hearts to accept Jesus as their personal savior, and at the same time, to show respect for what is in the community cause everything you see in this community, someone has worked very hard to acquire it.”
The North Miami church is searching for donations to replace the equipment.
If you have any information on this burglary, call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers at 305-471-TIPS. Remember, you can always remain anonymous, and you may be eligible for a $1,000 reward.
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