Jacksonville police need help identifying thieves who stole new lawn equipment from a church

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Police are searching for three suspected burglars who are believed to have stolen thousands of dollars worth of lawn care equipment.

The break-in occurred in the early morning hours of May 10 at the Greater Refuge Temple. Part of the break-in was captured on a surveillance camera, which was also among the church property stolen.

The video showed three men getting out of a dark blue Honda SUV that was parked outside the church’s storage building. The vehicle had a Disney license plate with numbers and letters on the plate that were not clearly visible.

Seconds after the men exited the SUV, one of them was seen looking directly at the camera and jumping into the camera to disable it. Seconds later, the video stopped because the camera was ripped out of the wall.

According to police, the men stole thousands of dollars worth of lawn care equipment.

News4JAX spoke with Gentle Grover, the church deacon. He said some of the items stolen were brand new. Grover said the church relies on this equipment to maintain the church grounds, especially as the summer season approaches.

“The grass grows a lot, so we need this stuff to work with. It’s having a big impact on the financial part of the church because it’s setting us back now. “This equipment needs to be replaced,” Grover said.

Unfortunately, Friday morning wasn’t the first time thieves have targeted the church’s storage building. Grover said the building has been targeted by thieves three times this year.

“In the first break-in, they stole two golf carts. They came back the next evening. They rammed the door with one of the stolen golf carts and broke in again. When they came back the third time, they picked up little things that didn’t work,” Grover said.

It is not clear whether different people or the same group were behind the break-ins. That’s why police and church leaders hope someone has information that leads to an arrest and conviction.

Grover said church employees who arrive or leave work at certain times have been instructed for safety reasons to make sure they are with someone and not alone when they arrive or leave.