Burglary Suspect Allegedly Admits Sanctuary Thefts

A 20-year-old Whittier man has told Los Angeles County sheriff’s officers that he broke into four Pico Rivera sanctuary churches looking for money, leading police to believe that the recent spate of Southland crimes against churches was not politically motivated.

However, the suspect’s admission was made in such a way that it will prevent authorities from charging him.

The suspect, Richard Madrid, 20, will not be held in the four Pico Rivera church burglaries, including a well-publicized break-in at United Methodist Church on Dec. 30, Sheriff’s Deputy Marshall Schexnayder said Thursday. Madrid has been charged with 16 other burglary counts in neighboring cities.

Activists in the nationwide movement to provide church sanctuary to political refugees from Central American countries have suspected involvement by the U.S. or foreign governments in the break-ins. Deputies said they believe Madrid was acting on his own.

Madrid was first arrested by Whittier police as a suspect in several church break-ins there. He subsequently confessed to the four Pico Rivera church burglaries, but the confession was taken “off the record,” Schexnayder said, and is not usable in court.

Items of value were rarely taken in the Pico Rivera burglaries, but books and church files were rifled and left on top of desks in private church offices.

“He took us to each of the churches he claimed to have broken into and was able to articulate enough facts about each case to convince my partner and myself that he was the suspect we were looking for,” Schexnayder said.

“He claims that all he takes is money,” Schexnayder said, “because he is always on foot.”

Detective Tom Garrova of the Whittier Police Department said 16 burglary counts were filed against Madrid on Feb. 13. Of those, 11 took place in Whittier and five in Monterey Park, Garrova said.

Madrid posted bond and is scheduled to appear for arraignment in Whittier on Tuesday.

Garrova said money was taken in some of the burglaries, and in one instance, a video cassette recorder was reported stolen. The suspect’s method of operation was allegedly consistent with the break-ins at the Pico Rivera churches, Garrova said: If a door or window was not easily accessible, the burglar would break through a door and use a saw to cut into locked, private church offices.

Representatives of a group associated with the sanctuary movement expressed dissatisfaction Thursday with the police account of Madrid’s motive.

Adelina Medina, coordinator of the New York-based Movement Support Network of the Center for Constitutional Rights, said her organization is still suspicious of the nationwide string of sanctuary church break-ins, which began in September, 1984. She said she believes that the government either is involved in the burglaries or knew about them.

Voices Skepticism

Additional skepticism was voiced Thursday by the network’s legal director, Michael Tratner, who said he doubted that Madrid could have acted alone. He also wondered why anyone burglarizes a church for financial gain.

“It was apparently his experience to have success finding money in churches,” Garrova said. “He found them to be a low-risk type of deal, with few people aRound in the early morning hours.”

Medina said there have been nearly three dozen break-ins of sanctuary-related organizations nationwide. As with the Pico Rivera cases, items of value seldom have been taken. Instead, the intruders have examined church files and documents with no attempt to disguise the crime.