Police are investigating church burglaries in Northeast Philadelphia.

The church says the burglars packed as much as they could using the church collection bags.

"They didn't get away with them because we found them outside," St. Dominic's supervisor of maintenance Joseph Yannelli said.

They caused a lot of damage, cleanup and repairs to Saint Dominic, a 160-year-old parish in Holmesburg, that like many churches can't really afford extra expenses. Burglars just hit the school last May stealing money and breaking kids trophies.

Yannelli says the crooks wound their way through the basement catacombs and they rifled through the building, the sanctuary and even the choir loft.

"I don't what they were looking for there but they were up there," he said.


When the alarm went off the thieves dropped everything and took off. A few days later, landscapers stumbled across cases of wine, which was St. Dominic's communion wine.

Between the repairs inside the church and security systems being installed the thieves have set Saint Dominic back tens if thousands at least.

Still, Father Kearns says pray for them.

"Let's pray for these people. Hopefully, they get caught before something bad happens."

