Police arrested a man accused of breaking into and stealing from a church in Long Beach three times in one week, authorities said Thursday.
Long Beach resident Trevor Fix, 26, was arrested and booked for commercial burglary Wednesday night, according to the Long Beach Police Department. He was being held at Long Beach City Jail, and his bail was set at $20,000.
Investigators suspected the same man had broken into Lakewood Village Community Church on Sunfield Avenue three times in the past week, and caught him on surveillance video Tuesday with an unlikely sidekick - his dog, church workers said Tuesday.
The Long Beach church was broken into for the first time last Wednesday and was hit again the day after, said Steve Boggan, the church's pastor.
Then, surveillance video caught the suspected burglar and his dog walking around inside the church early Monday morning.
Boggan thought he may have gotten in by removing an air conditioner from a window.
"We had an air conditioner in the window and he took it off and ransacked the office," Boggan said.
Local
Get Los Angeles's latest local news on crime, entertainment, weather, schools, COVID, cost of living and more. Here's your go-to source for today's LA news.
Boggan camped out at the church Monday night to make sure the burglar didn't return after the church was broken into Thursday and Friday.
Some of the things the burglar made off with during those heists included computers, food, money, and a coffee maker. He stacked propane tanks onto rolling carts to make for an easier getaway this week.
Parishioners were praying that the burglar would change his ways.
"Some of the stuff he was stealing is stuff we'd have given him if he'd come and asked," Boggan said.
Surveillance video showed the burglar breaking down part of a door and entering the bookkeeper's office. On the tape, he comes out with a computer - which he places in the hallway. He also tries to steal an air conditioner from upstairs.
"There's a better way to live. People here want to help you. You don't have to come and break stuff and terrorize people. Just come and ask," Boggan said. "Now it looks like your help is going to be behind bars."
Patrick Healy contributed to this report.
