It’s sad that alerts like this exists. This came from the Chancellor of the Diocese of Austin.
This is to alert you to a series of robberies that has been occurring in some parishes around the diocese. There have been three instances in the Austin area in which a white male in his 30′s driving a dark SUV comes to the parish and asks from money. He says that he is an evacuee from Lake Charles, Louisiana. He has stated that he is going to visit his mother in Lake Charles or in Oklahoma. When he does not receive the amount he wants, he becomes angry. He will then ask where the priests live. He goes to the rectory and enters by breaking the door down. This has happened at three parisehs: St. Helen in Georgetown, Santa Cruz in Buda and St. Paul in Austin. Money, computers and other electronics have been stolen.
Please instruct your staff to be on the alert for this person at the parish. They should be cautious and report the person to the local police.
Please also contact:
Georgetown Police (512-930-3510) and refer to case #0609047 (robbery at St. Helen Catholic Church);
Buda Police (512-393-7837) and refer to case #C0609052 (robbery at Santa Cruz Catholic Church).
St. Anthony in Bryan also experienced a robbery last month. Although it is not likely that it was done by the same person, nonetheless, it happened at night in the rectory while Fr. Kirby Garner was in the rectory.
Please let me know if you have any more information regarding this current case in the Austin area.
