Caught On Tape: Man Burglarizes Convent Full Of Sleeping Nuns
PHILADELPHIA — Police in Northeast Philadelphia are on the hunt for a thief who took advantage of nuns and they’re asking for your help.
It happened at approximately 4 a.m. Saturday on the 9800 block of Frankford Avenue in the Holmesburg section of the city.
Investigators said a man entered the grounds of Holy Family University and pried his way inside Delaney Hall, a residence used as a convent by the Holy Sisters of Nazareth.
Police said he took everything he could get his hands on.
“This male is particularly bold…Once inside on the first floor, he made his way into the office, ransacked the office,” said Lt. Rick Sysol of Philadelphia Police.
Police said he stole $130 from the room. He then went to the second floor to a series of bedrooms where 19 sisters were sleeping.
“This male is so brazen that not only after he forced his way into that building and went and got actual cash out of that office, he also went upstairs and went room-to-room where they slept,” said Lt. Sysol.
Police said the armed crook stole money, purses, a laptop, and even prized possessions, like a cross.
“That cross belonged to a sister, 94-years-old, who 75 years ago when she was ordained, when she took her vows, and entered that order, that cross was a gift to her,” said Lt. Sysol.
Police said when he reached the fourth victim, she awoke and asked why he was there. He responded by shining a flashlight to the ceiling and said he was a security officer there to check the premises.
The man soon took off in a light-colored van.
“They’re all elderly, they’re all up in age. And nothing like this has occurred to them before…If he’s willing to pry on the elderly, actual sisters inside of a convent while they sleep, he would pry on anybody,” said Lt. Sysol.
The suspect is described as having a thin-build, 5′8″-5′10″, and was last seen in a gray sweatshirt and jeans.
Investigators said they believe the man is also responsible for a series of robberies in Northeast Philadelphia, mostly at gas stations and mini-markets.
Anyone with information is asked to call police.
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