Copper thief strikes local church

ELBERTA, Ala. (WALA) - A Southern Baldwin County church is the victim of a copper theft, and police say this isn't the only recent case. In the past few weeks, Elberta Police say a copper thief has hit several places.

"The Bible commands us thou shall not steal, it means thou shall not steal. It's pretty clear," said Youth Pastor Nick Dewhurst at Berean Baptist Church.

A few weeks ago, someone stole copper from the air conditioning unit that cools the church's gymnasium.

"I just came back here to empty some trash out and noticed it and said, 'I don't think those should be like that,'" said Dewhurst.

Police say at least four other places around town have been targeted. It's a disturbing trend they hope doesn't get worse. The damage here was expensive.

"It's well over $6,000," said Dewhurst..

Since this crime happened, church leaders have installed a 24-hour video surveillance system.

Meanwhile, police say all of the crimes have happened at night. So they have increased patrols during the late hours.

"They have stopped right now with our increased patrols, but I think if we went back to our normal operations, it may start again. So we have to be vigilant," said Chief Mickey Pledger.

Services go on, but things aren't quite the same.

"It's very disappointing. It use to be that churches could leave their doors unlocked so people can come in and pray. But now we are a church that has to have a full security system," said Dewhurst.

Police say collectively, the thefts have caused about $20,000 in damage.

They also believe the same person is responsible for all the crimes.