2 men face prison for church burglaries in three counties
NORRISTOWN » Two Philadelphia men who used the early days of the pandemic to target shuttered churches for burglaries are headed to prison for their roles in multiple overnight break-ins at houses of worship in Montgomery, Bucks and Philadelphia counties.
Gabriel E. Minnick, 23, of the 1800 block of West Ruscombe Street, and Semaj Munir Howard, 22, of the 4500 block of Marple Street, each was sentenced to six to 14 years in a state correctional facility after they pleaded guilty to charges of burglary, conspiracy, theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property in connection with break-ins that occurred between Feb. 20 and March 17, 2020.
The sentences were imposed by Montgomery County Judge Gary S. Silow as part of plea agreements.
“They went on a serial burglary spree, targeting houses of worship, which is egregious on its own, but they also did it during the beginning of the pandemic when they knew that these churches would be vacant, and stole things, like going into donation jars,” said Assistant District Attorney Scott Frame, who sought significant prison terms against the pair.
The burglars stole precious metals, safes, petty cash, portable church communion kits, silver church communion trays, bottles of wine, poor box donations, televisions and other electronics from nine churches of various denominations located in Abington, Upper Moreland, Lower Moreland and Cheltenham in Montgomery County, and in Lower Southampton in Bucks County and in Philadelphia, according to arrest affidavits.
“It was just greed. I think they saw an opportunity here where no one would be present and just wanted to steal and steal,” said coprosecutor Tanner Beck. “They burglarized these churches early on in the pandemic when the entire world was shut down. They knew these places would be vacant and saw an opportunity here.
“It doesn’t get much lower than stealing from the poor box like they did in one of these cases,” Beck added.
Additionally, the burglars caused significant damage to the churches, some of which were historic structures, prosecutors alleged.
At the time of the arrests last year, District Attorney Kevin R. Steele characterized the crimes as “reprehensible.”
Montgomery County prosecutors handled the cases related to the crimes in all three counties.
Investigators linked Minnick and Howard to the burglaries through video surveillance, photographs, cellphone records, pawn shop transactions and the clothing they wore, according to the criminal complaint filed by Abington Township Detective Ryan M. Duntzee and Lower Moreland Detective Holly J. Halota.
“The burglaries committed were classic ‘modus operandi’ crimes — a pattern of behavior nearly identical in nature so as to constitute the virtual fingerprint of an actor or actors — known as common plan, scheme or design,” Duntzee and Halota wrote in the criminal complaint.
Churches were targeted in each burglary, entry was forced, typically through windows, and the items stolen were similar in nature, detectives said.
Montgomery County churches burglarized included: Elkins Park Presbyterian in Abington; Reformed Presbyterian Church in Abington; St. Michael the Archangel in Abington; Huntingdon Valley Methodist Church in Lower Moreland; and St. John’s Lutheran Church in Cheltenham.
The Bucks County church that was burglarized was identified as Church of the Wonderful in Lower Southampton.
Philadelphia churches that were burglarized included the Lehigh Baptist Church, Pennypack Baptist Church and the Ukrainian Evangelical Baptist Church, according to court papers.