Police are searching for two suspects they say broke into cars in the parking lot of a north Baltimore County church and in one case used a pilfered garage-door opener to break into a home.
The suspects, a man and woman, broke a side window of a Toyota sport utility vehicle and stole a purse containing credit cards while the owners were attending a morning service at Our Lady of Grace Church on Middletown Road in Parkton, county police said. They stole a garage door opener from an unlocked van parked next to it.
Police surmise the suspects used a registration form in the glove compartment or mail in the car to identify the owners? home on Rayville Road. The suspects stole about $2,300 worth of power tools from the garage, according to church spokesman Elaine Hagner.
The incident revealed thieves can strike anywhere ? even church, Hagner said.
“We have a false sense of security up here,” Hagner said. “We have to realize no place is safe. It?s everywhere.”
Police captured the suspects on surveillance video ata High?s convenience store at York and Mount Carmel roads, where they used a stolen credit card. The female is white with a medium build and shoulder-length dark hair. She was wearing a dark jacket, white tennis shoes and dark sunglasses.
The man, who is black, has a medium build, short black hair and was wearing a tan and black jacket, police said.
Police spokesman Cpl. Michael Hill said detectives are working with authorities in southern Pennsylvania to see if similar incidents there are related.
In an e-mail, Capt. Martin Lurz of the department?s 7th precinct advised residents to carry garage-door openers with them and watch for car alarms going off suddenly, someone loitering around a car door or a vehicle circling around lots with available parking.
“If your car is parked at church, thieves may assume that your whole family is at church and the chances of your house being vacant for an hour or two are greater,” he wrote.
