Men held for trial in church burglaries
Two Philadelphia men must answer to charges in Montgomery County Court that they allegedly took part in multiple overnight burglaries at churches in Montgomery, Bucks and Philadelphia counties.
Gabriel E. Minnick, 21, of the 1800 block of West Ruscombe Street, and Semaj Munir Howard, 20, of the 4500 block of Marple Street, each was held for trial, after a preliminary hearing
before District Court Judge Juanita Price, on multiple counts of burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, criminal trespass, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, institutional vandalism and criminal mischief in connection with alleged break-ins that occurred between Feb. 20 and March 17, 2020.
The accused 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.
Additionally, the accused burglars caused significant damage to the churches, some of which were historic structures, prosecutors alleged.
During the three hour preliminary hearing, one count each of burglary and conspiracy to commit burglary was dismissed against each man in connection with an alleged March 13 burglary at a church in Upper Southampton in Bucks County.
The hearing included testimony from numerous detectives from each of the nine jurisdictions where the churches were located.
At the time of the arrests last month, District Attorney Kevin R. Steele characterized the crimes as “reprehensible.”
“Our churches do an extraordinary amount of
good in our communities. To steal from and damage a church is reprehensible. It’s an egregious crime against the entire community,” Steele said.
Montgomery County prosecutors are handling the cases related to the alleged 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 alleged.
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.
Utilizing video surveillance, the investigation determined there were two burglars wearing distinctive clothing, with one of the actors, subsequently identified as Howard, having a heart-shaped tattoo under his eye and a unique scar on his eyebrow, according to court papers.
During the investigation, authorities recovered a sweatshirt that matched the sweatshirt allegedly worn by Minnick and depicted in video surveillance during a break-in at the Huntingdon Valley Methodist Church, according to court papers.
Additionally, a sweatshirt allegedly worn by Howard during a pawn shop transaction on March 17 matched the sweatshirt worn by one of the actors observed on video surveillance committing a March 16 church burglary, according to the criminal complaint.
Authorities said the black bags containing portable communion kits and the communion trays that were recovered had not yet been linked to any particular church.
“Government mandates due to COVID-19 may have contributed to undiscovered church burglaries and/ or church officials not having inventoried all of the stolen items,” Duntzee and Halota alleged in the arrest affidavit.
Minnick remains in the county jail in lieu of $1 million cash. Howard remains in the jail in lieu of $750,000 bail. They each face formal arraignment hearings in county court later this year.
Prosecutors Scott Frank Frame and Tanner Beck are handling the cases.