Air Conditioning Unit Stolen From Dorchester Church
BOSTON (CBS)- A church in Dorchester worked for years to raise money for a new air conditioner, only to have it stolen before the start of summer.
Father Joe Ribeiro came to work Tuesday morning and found the brand new industrial sized air conditioner unit stolen from his church, Freedom in Christ Ministry.
He's held services on Washington Street for 13 years and says he's never seen anything like the robbery caught on the church's surveillance cameras.
The video shows a pickup truck backing into the church parking lot, two people get out of the truck and later haul the $2,600 AC unit into the bed of the truck. But as the thieves pull away, one person does something strange: he gets out and shuts the church's back gate.
"I had to laugh," said Ribeiro. "To me it seems like someone that maybe knows the place very well because they know we close, but don't lock, the gate."
Neither Ribeiro nor his parishioners seem angry about the theft, saying they just want the air conditioner brought back before weekend services get hot and sticky.
"We forgive them anyway but we need the air back, we really do," church-goer Annie Dixon told WBZ-TV.
Boston Police issued a news release Wednesday about the incident, saying "The Boston Police Department is actively investigating facts and circumstances surrounding this incident"
Anyone with information is asked to call police at 617-343-4335.
