Brothers arrested for temple and mosque break-ins in Montgomery County – NBC4 Washington

Police arrested two brothers for allegedly breaking into religious institutions in Montgomery County.

According to investigators with the Montgomery County Police Department, 23-year-old Alex Dumitru and 18-year-old Natalian Dumitru were traveling up and down the East Coast, primarily targeting Buddhist temples.

Court documents say they are believed to be part of a Romanian crime ring.

On March 13, a blue minivan was seen in the parking lot of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Mosque in Silver Spring, Maryland. On the same day, jewelry went missing from a residence on the property.

The blue minivan was also seen at the Zen Institute on March 9th. An apartment on the temple grounds in Germantown was also broken into that day.

The search warrant that led to the arrest of the two brothers was served at their home on Prestwood Road in Catonsville.

A similar blue minivan was seen in security video at the Wat Thai Buddhist temple in Silver Spring on April 7. That day, $20,000 worth of donations and valuable papers were stolen from a safe in a monk’s room at the temple. There have been no arrests in connection with this burglary.

“You’re stealing my safe. They take the safe from my room… This is the donation money in the safe and I have some, many documents in it,” the monk said.

According to police, the suspects broke into a place of worship and immediately went to another. Unknown individuals also broke into the Noor Center Mosque in Germantown and another residence in Spencerville.

The brothers were charged with first-degree burglary and released on $10,000 unsecured bail.