Law and Order Lake County
October 19, 2012 4:02PM
An arrest warrant has been issued for a Crown Point man charged with stealing the collection plate money and checks Oct. 7 from St. Mary’s Church while the mass was still in session. Dustin A. Gertz, 22, of Crown Point, was charged with felony burglary and theft for taking the money bag containing the personal check and cash donations from a storage area where they were placed while the service continued at St. Mary’s Church, 321 E. Joliet St. Gertz remains at large, according to a statement from Crown Point Police Chief Pete Land. | Provided Photo~Sun-Times Media ptmet
Updated: October 19, 2012 11:26PM
Crown Point
Man charged with stealing collection plate
An arrest warrant has been issued for a Crown Point man charged with stealing the collection plate money and checks Oct. 7 from St. Mary Catholic Church while the Mass was in session.
Dustin A. Gertz, 22, of Crown Point, was charged with felony burglary and theft for taking the money bag containing the personal check and cash donations from a storage area where they were placed while the service continued at the church, 321 E. Joliet St. Gertz remains at large, according to a statement from Crown Point Police Chief Pete Land.
“The fact that the suspect entered the rear of the church and stole the donations while Mass was still going on was brazen,” Land said.
Police were able to identify Gertz from surveillance video, on which he was seen entering and leaving the area where the money was stored. He was initially unidentified, but the investigation led police to a trash receptacle in Dolton, Ill., where they recovered the bag from the church still containing personal checks from parishioners. The cash was gone. The bag was wrapped in a robe also removed from the church.
“Detective (Norm) Isaacs did an excellent job in obtaining and acting on the information he was able to learn during his investigation. We were able to return all of the personal checks for the church and parishioners,” Land said.
Anyone with information as to Gertz’s whereabouts is asked to contact Isaacs at the Crown Point Police Department at 663-2131, Ext. 129. Callers may leave an anonymous tip on the department’s Crime Tip Line of 663-2131, Ext. 265.
