Detectives say Kevin Spain and Robert Ruffin are responsible for as many as 50 church break-ins. The two men are suspected of stealing from Corinth Baptist Church as many as five times.
"They would always get the TV. We'd replace it. Two or three weeks [later], they would get it again, at least four or five times," said Kenneth Mathews, of Corinth Baptist Church.
Sampson County Sheriff Jimmy Thornton said Onslow County authorities caught Ruffin two months ago breaking into a church. He said Spain got away, but turned up in Georgia in November after being caught stealing from a church there.
"We've actually prayed for the people who were doing this -- that the Lord would change their hearts and they would quit it," Mathews said.
Investigators say the suspects sold the goods to feed their drug habit.
• Credits
Copyright 2023 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
