Man Steals Pricey Items From Midtown Houses Of Worship, Cops Say

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police are actively searching for a man wanted for stealing over $10,000 in goods from a church and a synagogue in Midtown Manhattan.

On Monday, police and the places of worship released surveillance video of the suspect in hopes of tracking him down.

As members of St. Columba Church in Chelsea arrived for afternoon mass, they had to knock to get past the locked door. The Roman Catholic church has tightened security after police say a man snuck into the rectory and stole $11,000 in cash, two laptops, and a video camera.

"I'm sure the person had a need to do this," parishioner David Smith told CBS2's Hazel Sanchez. "Desperation? I don't know, but you know. You have to be all forgiving and thank God nobody was harmed."

Surveillance video shows the suspect in a striped shirt and baseball cap approaching the church on Friday, August 18th. A maintenance worker says the man entered through the unlocked doors of the basement chapel.

Video from inside shows him sneaking up the stairs.

Church employees say the burglar was upstairs, rummaging through the priest's unoccupied bedrooms for at least 15 minutes before a cleaning lady found hgim and screamed.

The man ran downstairs, where another woman working inside tried to grab him before he slipped away.

Police say the suspect has done this before. On June 28th, surveillance camera at the West Side Jewish Center on West 34th Street recorded the same man, wearing the same shirt, stealing a bag carrying a laptop and tefillin -- which are Jewish religious items worn during morning prayer.

A month later, police say the suspect was back at the center -- this time riding away on Jason Carr's $1,600 bike that was parked inside the lobby.

"He was in for like three minutes," Carr tells CBS2. "He looked for stuff, didn't find nothing. On the way out he found the bicycle and left with it."

Members of the synagogue and St. Columba are convinced the burglar is from the neighborhood, and now it's only a matter of time before he's caught.

CBS2 reported a $500 is being offered for each item stolen from the Jewish center.