The House on the Word Church located in the 13000 block of Schiller Road was broken into on November 25 of last year. Surveillance videos outside the church caught the moment the suspect drove up and minutes later also show when the suspect walks out with the expensive equipment.
"We've never had a break in and I just didn't think anyone would break into a church. Maybe I am kind of naive but I just didn't think that would happen, so I was pretty shocked," pastor Wande Ogunbanjo said.
The church pastor says a drum set, several keyboards, speakers and even a flat screen TV were all taken that night. For a church with a congregation of about 200, recuperating the missing $30,000 worth of equipment is a tough setback.
"This sanctuary isn't big enough so we are trying to get money to raise a new building, and for us to have to pour money from there back into getting the equipment, it adds to the frustration, it really does," Ogunbanjo said.
Church administrator Nike Oside says she suspects the man responsible as the ex-husband of one of their employees.
"We've had one of the ladies that they've worked here together told us OK, I know who this guy is, I know where he lives. We've seen him with the car that he used to rob the church," Oside said.
Church members say they've turned over a copy of the surveillance video to the sheriff's office and have also shared the identification of the man they believe is responsible, but no arrests have been made and members tell us they are frustrated.
We've reached out to the Harris County Sheriff's Office who tells us the case is still open and consider it an active investigation.
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