After failing to crack open the crates the first time, David Moroni Raynor, 18, allegedly obtained tools from his mother’s house.
Before surrendering to authorities days later, a Utah man and two suspects allegedly broke into a church and took checks from a tithe box.
Who is David Moroni Raynor?
According to Fox 13 Salt Lake City, David Moroni Raynor, 18, allegedly committed the crime with two accomplices on April 13 and surrendered to authorities on Saturday. Theft, burglary, and criminal mischief are among the counts he faces.
Raynor and the other suspects allegedly broke into an unidentified church and attempted to open the metal tithe boxes, which house monetary gifts to the church from parishioners, according to Rocky Ridge investigators. They left without success, according to the news source.
They allegedly returned a little time later after Raynor went to his mother’s house to get some tools to try to open the boxes.
Raynor allegedly took a fire extinguisher and attempted to bust the boxes open at one point during the suspected theft. That didn’t work out either. According to three news reports, they then fled the church and were able to open one package outdoors.
He allegedly stated that he did the act in order to assist his brother in paying for medical care.
According to the probable cause affidavit obtained by the news source, Raynor told investigators there were “only five or six envelopes in the box.” Only three checks were discovered, ranging in value from $300 to $900.
Investigators reviewed the tape after a church representative told them they had recently installed 30 surveillance cameras around the area. Raynor’s mother called the Juab County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday to tell deputies that her son wanted to surrender.
