'Crime Doesn't Pay,' Priest Says After Arrests in Church Robberies

The Rev. Larry Zurawski attended the press conference Tuesday at the Shelby Township Police Department where the arrests of three men who allegedly robbed his parish were announced and stated that at the time he felt "violated."

Zurawski, who the pastor at St. Therese Lisieux Roman Catholic Church in Shelby Township, said he was called at 6 a.m. the morning after Easter to inform him about the robbery.

The thieves used special equipment to break into the church's safe, and steal an estimated $40,000.

"I am relieved they are caught for the safety of everyone in the neighborhood," Zurawski said. "I hope they give the things back and don't do it again and lead a better life.

"Like they said on Dragnet, crime doesn't pay," Zurawski said.

Police officials added that the suspects deny taking a chalice from St. Therese, but investigators are hopeful they will recover it. 

"I really don't think they would have any use for it, or need for it," said Zurawski, of the chalice used for masses and communion at local senior centers. "It is a sacred object. I would hope they would return it and destroy it, or abuse it in any way."

Linda Maccarone, administrative manager at St. Therese, said the parish has a new security system, new safe and more parishioners are electronically making donations since the robbery.

She added she is "very, very grateful to Shelby Township police" for their efforts to catch the men accused of robbing the church which "shocked" the community.

"Their sense of security was threatened," Maccarone said. "There will be great relief now that they have been caught."