Police say they have arrested the man who broke into a Silver Spring church and punched a pastor this winter, and are investigating whether he is responsible for two other burglaries at the church.
Montgomery County police said 22-year-old Noe Guillen-Velasquez is charged with second-degree burglary and second-degree assault in the Jan. 9 incident.
A pastor at New Creation Baptist Church, located at 11005 Dayton St. in Silver Spring, found a man hiding in a basement closet at about 6:35 p.m., police said. The man, who was holding a metal object, punched the pastor before fleeing from the church.
Police said DNA evidence was recovered from items the suspect left at the scene, and that DNA was linked to Guillen-Velasquez, of Silver Spring.
Officer Rebecca Innocenti, a police spokeswoman, declined to say what evidence was left at the church.
Innocenti said detectives are investigating whether Guillen-Velasquez also committed two other winter burglaries at the church. So far, he has only been charged in one case because police have DNA evidence linking him to that, she said.
Also on Jan. 9, another congregation that uses the church discovered earlier in the day that someone broke into the building and took a water jug containing 30,000 pennies from youth fundraising efforts from a pastor’s office, police said. Someone also took another 10,000 pennies from a computer room.
Another burglary happened sometime between Nov. 28 and Dec. 2, when officials discovered that someone broke into the church and took a safe that held documents and cash.
Authorities don’t believe Guillen-Velasquez has any ties to the church, Innocenti said.
