Church burglarized, suspects at large

CANTONMENT, Fla. (WALA) - Officials said suspected burglars broke into a church in Cantonment, Florida, after a service.

A pastor of Victory Assembly of God said on Sunday night, someone broke into the sanctuary through a window.

Many people see churches as a refuge and safe place to provide guidance and help during troubled times.

But Pastor Jeff McKee said on Sunday night, suspects helped themselves inside through a window.

McKee said, “Sometimes people get in a difficult place. They feel they have nowhere else to turn, and people do dumb things."

Pastor Jeff McKee said suspected burglars smashed their way in, glass was scattered throughout the sanctuary.

McKee said suspects then went into his office.

"They actually stole a Bose radio that was here (on my desk,)” he said.

He said the suspects also went through his desk and later went outside and made off with the van's CD player.

McKee said the strange thing about this burglary is the list of items they didn't steal.

"They bypassed everything in our sound booth, everything on the (music) platform,” said McKee.

Youth Pastor Jennifer Miller said, "I'm not sure why somebody would break in and not take any of the stuff. If they were gonna come in, why wouldn't they bother to take any of the equipment with them?"

The church family is counting its blessings, but Pastor McKee said ultimately none of this stuff belongs to the church anyway.

McKee said, "Everything we have here belongs to the Lord. We've been blessed, and so all we can do is trust Him."

The church staff said they're not mad at the suspects. Instead, they said they feel the best thing they can do now is just pray for them.

In the meantime, the Escambia County Sheriff's Office is investigating the case.

Deputies said if found, the suspects would be charged with burglary, which is a felony