Man ‘prayed’ before allegedly stealing from church collection box

A surveillance video taken by a Catholic church shows a man kneeling and apparently praying for several minutes before busting open a collection box that contained donations left in the small prayer chapel in northwest Houston.

“I wondered if he was praying, ‘Dear God, Please don’t let me get caught,’ or ‘Dear God, Please forgive me for what I’m about to do,’” said parish administrator John Naber.

William Joseph Johnson, 34, is in custody and charged with criminal mischief, according to court documents from the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. He is accused of targeting the Catholic church’s 24-hour prayer chapel for nearly eight months by stealing money from a sealed collection box on multiple occasions. The first known incident was caught on the church’s surveillance camera on July 28, the court document said.

http://blog.chron.com/newswatch/2012/02/man-arrested-for-allegedly-stealing-from-church-collection-box/