Socorro Residents Looking For Church Burglar

The Socorro community is taking a stand against a number of burglaries that have hit churches in the area, including the old mission there, and police say the suspect is someone no one would have imagined.

The Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church is one of the latest to be hit by the thief. According to the people of Socorro, he’s a familiar face to many.

There was no rooster crowing or alarm alerting the parishioners of the Socorro Mission their house of worship had fallen victim to a different thief in the night. Instead, there was only a sense of vulnerability and anger.

“It’s very sad that some people have no respect for sacred places,” says Socorro mayor Trini Lopez. He says 28-year-old Antonio Arroyo is the man accused of stealing from the churches.

According to police, earlier this month Arroyo climbed through a church window, busted a lock, and took off with the money that was originally inside a donation box. “That money belongs to the people,” says Lopez.

Offerings for the poor and other donations also went missing from Father Saul Uribe’s church, the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church. It’s happened three times recently.

This church is not far from the mission Father Saul says he caught Arroyo in the act before the suspect ran away. What’s worse – he says Arroyo is one of his parishioners.

“He would come talk to me and seemed like a good Catholic,” says Uribe, adding Arroyo would visit with him for sacramental advice.

But now, it’s other parishioners that are praying for Arroyo, hoping he turns himself in.

According to church officials, Arroyo made off with a large plasma television the last time he broke into the church.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call the Socorro Police Department at (915) 858-6985.