CLEVELAND — A West Park church says someone has been stealing statues and other items from its property since October and the person believed to be responsible may have been reselling some of those items online.
St. Patrick's Catholic Church has been dealing with the thefts for months. The church was even able to capture one of the incidents on video.
Church maintenance worker Carl Bush says statues donated by parishioners have been taken, along with solar lights and other items from the property. He says the items may not be worth much money, but that is not the point they were donated by people who wanted to give something to their church.
Bush says he found the suspected thief's listings while following leads online.
"I had pictures where I was able to see things that he's selling on Facebook Marketplace and compare them to the statues that we had back here," Bush said.
He says some of the statues appeared to have been painted before being put up for sale.
The thefts are not limited to the church. Other parishioners have had personal statues taken from their homes. Bush says they know who the suspect is and believe the items are in that individual's backyard.
Bush says police previously told him to take the items back if they find them, but he does not want anyone taking matters into their own hands.
"I don't feel like getting into that sort of confrontation where I could possibly put my life in danger," Bush said.
Bush says he has provided detectives with evidence and is now waiting for prosecutors to decide whether to move forward with charges
