Cops & Courts: Clovis churches recently burglarized

Clovis police are looking for suspects in a recent string of church burglaries.

Police say three churches have been burglarized in the past month, and suspects have stolen everything from musical instruments and food to computers and televisions.

Among the churches burglarized are Prince Street Baptist Church, hit twice between Jan. 8-10; Kingswood Methodist, hit between Jan. 20-21; and New Beginnings Church of God, hit between Jan. 2-3, said Sgt. James Schoeffel of the Clovis Police Department.

“Burglary is our biggest problem year-round because of the drug problem we have here,” Schoeffel said. “Residentials, we get hit all the time. Commercials, we get hit all the time. But the churches, they’re kind of like a special target. Being a former detective, I’d be thinking hmmm, we’ve got somebody with maybe an ax to grind or something. It’s happened in the past but usually it’s not a real popular target.”

The suspects used a variety of methods of entry, from prying back doors to pushing in windows, Schoeffel said.

The total number of burglaries for January are slightly up from previous years.

Schoeffel said Thursday that there had already been 53 burglaries in January, up from 46 in January 2004 and 47 in January 2003.

Cops and Courts is compiled by CNJ news editor Mike Linn. He can be contacted at 763-6991 or: [email protected]