Man accused of stealing cash while posing as priest may be suspect in similar Texas cases: Police

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Thursday, March 7, 2024
Suspect accused of stealing cash from churches posed as priest: Police
Surveillance video from two similar cases at a New York church and a Dallas church appear to show the same suspect. He may have even targeted a church in the Houston area.

A man accused of posing as a priest to steal money may have also stolen from churches in Dallas and Houston.

In New York, police said the suspect stole $900 from a church in Queens.

The church's priest said the suspect told him he was visiting from a church in Rome, so he invited him into the rectory. He said the man knew what to say and where to go.

"It's sad. It's very sad that someone is going to come in to any house of worship and just violate everybody," Father Peter Rayder from the American Martyrs Roman Catholic Church said.

The man reportedly stole the $900 from the priest's unlocked bedroom.

Police and the dioceses in Houston and Dallas sent out warnings about similar crimes by a suspect who could be the same man. They said he calls himself either "Father Martin" or "Father Guillermo."

He was even caught on surveillance cameras in Dallas wearing similar clothes as the New York incident.

In October, the Catholic Diocese of Dallas warned its parishioners to watch out for a man claiming to be "Father Martin."

Closer to home, St. Thomas More Catholic Church in the Meyerland area reported a similar theft last year.

Police said the suspect hasn't been caught.

New York police described the suspect as a 45- to 55-year-old man with a light complexion. They said he's bald with a beard and approximately 5'9" and 190 pounds.