ST. LOUIS — Thousands of dollars worth of property were stolen from a historic Saint Louis church.
The church’s Reverend Rodney Olive says a group of criminals took their own ladder to climb to the roof of Saint Alphonsus Liguori Rock Church in the Covenant Blu Grand Center Neighborhood. He says they stole two air conditioning units, weighing about 400 pounds and costing about $20,000.
“I’m disappointed… we need a better approach to crime. It’s not just arresting the bad guys. It’s how do we get to the source?” says Olive.
We dug into police data. So far this year, property crime in the North St. Louis neighborhood is up about 8% compared to the same period last year. That’s more than 3 times as high as the city’s overall increase.
The historic church has had other challenges over the years. In 2007, a lightning strike caused a fire that demolished the roof. A few months ago, the cars of six church officials parked in the church parking lot were broken into. Reverend Olive says he's already installed more security cameras.
But one church official says they’ve rebuilt before, and they’ll do it again.
“This is a few people who decide to do things like this. This is not the majority of this community," says Monica Huddleston, Saint Alphonsus Liguori Rock Church's financial administrator. "Most of the folks in this community are good hardworking people, some who are down on their luck and just need a little help. And they come here for help and this church gives it to them.”
Saint Alphonsus Liguori Rock Church has been in the community for about 150 years. And church leaders tell us they won’t let this crime deter them from their mission: giving people hope.