MEDFORD, MASS. (WHDH) - A man was arrested and charged after he was caught on surveillance video in several instances entering churches in Medford and stealing money from donation boxes, police said.
Michael Bagley, 60, was arrested Sunday morning in Medford Square. He is charged with six counts of Larceny from a Building, six counts of Breaking into a Depository, and six counts of Possession of Burglarious Instruments in connection with the thefts.
On June 15, Medford police said they received a report that a man had been entering St. Joseph’s Parish and St Francis of Assisi Church after Sunday services and taking money out of their donation boxes. Police said the parishes were able to review surveillance video dating back to May 19 that captured a man, later identified as Bagley, performing the thefts.
Father Timonty Hynes, who oversees both parishes, said he wanted to be able to keep the churches unlocked for people to come in to pray as they please.
He said he installed surveillance cameras once he started noticing donation boxes that regularly brought in $200 to $300 dollars per week had nothing inside. Once he reviewed the video, he said it shared it with police.
“He would come regularly. I went back and checked every Sunday around the same time. He would come regularly to St. Francis somewhere around 1:15, maybe a little bit earlier, maybe a little bit later, and he was doing that since May 19th,” Hynes said. “Within a half an hour, Braintree Police Department responded to them and said they identified exactly who it was, that there was a warrant for his arrest.”
When officers took Bagley into custody, they said he was on his way to St. Joseph’s Church.
“He admitted to it immediately, according to the police. It seems to be his M.O. to kind of go around these different churches and pilfer from the collection boxes that were available,” Hynes said.
Police said it is suspected that he stole nearly $2,000 from the churches over the course of a month.
“These candle stands from which this man was stealing from were one of those places we were able to increase a little bit of revenue, but it was beautiful for me because it also, with the church’s opened, encouraged people to come in and pray, and really that’s the heart of all of it,” Hynes said.
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