Man arrested for church burglaries in Nassau County

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Garden City police reported the arrest of a man who has been linked to multiple church burglaries throughout Nassau County, including one at Our Lady of Lourdes church on October 25.

The man, William Hepworth, 48, who has no known address, entered Our Lady of Lourdes church and stole newly-purchased amplifiers and a microphone. “He tried to break into the poor boxes as well,” said Tom Letourneau, business manager for Our Lady of Lourdes Church. “One of the maintenance guys here said he found a broken screwdriver near the poor boxes.” Hepworth was unsuccessful in opening the boxes, Letourneau added.

After the burglary was reported to the Malverne Police on October 28, an investigation began. “Detective Padilla ran the equipment’s serial numbers through a database at the Nassau County Police’s Intel Center that checks on pawn shops,” said Chief John Aresta. “That started the ball rolling,” he added. Aresta said the police department did not want to make news of the burglary public until they knew all the facts. “We weren’t quite sure if it was a burglary or not. We were still investigating,” he said.

On November 7, Hepworth then entered St. Anne’s Church in Garden City and pried open four poor boxes and removed an undisclosed amount of cash before fleeing the scene.

Garden City detectives located the defendant in a parking lot on Hicksville Road in Massapequa yesterday evening where he was placed under arrest. He was found to be in possession of cutting pliers, a pry bar and a screwdriver. He is being charged with 13 counts of burglary, and possession of burglary tools. He was arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead.

Hepworth was arrested for burglary in 1997 and again in 2002, when he burglarized numerous churches in Suffolk County.Garden City police say Hepworth is homeless, living in his car, and may be stealing to fund a crack habit.