Two white males entered the Church of Saint Anne last Thursday morning and "systematically emptied each poor box," according to Garden City police, getting off with approximately $250 cash.
Unbeknownst to the subjects, believed to be in their late teens or early 20s, the church's hi-tech surveillance system caught the entire larceny on camera. The incident took place at 10:57 a.m.
The subjects are first seen at the 1:00 minute mark of the surveillance video Patch obtained from Garden City police. They then re-appear at the 3:00 minute mark leaving the church, only to return approximately 30 seconds later to rummage through the donation boxes.
One subject was wearing a black T-shirt with white writing on the front, blue jeans and white sneakers and was carrying a blue flannel shirt and a brown shopping bag while the second was wearing a black hoodie with a white graphic circle on the front, blue jeans and white sneakers, according to police.
Both subjects are seen going from box to box, first reaching inside and then actually overturning them and dumping the contents.
"Our feeling is that these are local subjects and are should be easily identified, Det./Sgt. James Bartkowski said. "These crimes are economic in nature. We are experiencing an increase in them to include unlocked cars during the night."
Anyone with information on the incident is urged to call Det. Kevin Madden at 516-465-4109.
