Church burglar nabbed

GONZALES — A Houston man was jailed after police said he broke into a local church and stole over $300 in cash and several electronics items.

At 9:10 a.m. May 18, Officer Victor Izaguirre was dispatched to the Faith Family Church in the 1800 block of Cartwheel Drive in reference to a burglary, Capt. Allen Taylor reported. Upon arrival, Izaguirre met with the pastor’s daughter, who said the building had been broken into.

According to Taylor, the burglar gained entry by breaking the west side glass door. Police believe the burglar exited a metal door that was also on the west side of the building.

During the investigation Izaguirre learned that $350 in cash had been stolen; along with two TVs, several DVDs, two computers and a visual screen splitter.

“Items were collected for fingerprints,” Taylor added. “Investigator Jason Montoya joined the investigation, [at which time] an individual who claimed to know the [burglar’s] first name, and that he was from Houston. He was supposedly just released from prison.”

Later that evening Sgt. Dewey Sumner was called back to the scene, where he recovered additional evidence. A photo of a man later identified as Jesus Jericho Alvarado, 22, of Houston, was collected and taken to Taylor. Taylor forwarded the photo to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, as well as the Houston Police Department.

On May 19, Harris County investigators provided Taylor with a possible name of a person who was considered a “person of interest” at that time.

“I received a driver’s license number, ran a check on the number and found out [his full name]. He was out of Houston, and I got another photo of the subject, and it turned out it was the same subject we needed to speak to because he was a person of interest at that time,” Taylor said.

On May 21, Montoya and Officer Gabriel Trevino began working the case and developed more information that led to Alvarado becoming a suspect. A warrant was issued for his arrest on charges of burglary of a building, Taylor said.

Police later learned Alvarado was staying at the La Posada apartments next door to the church. Montoya and Trevino — along with sheriff’s deputies — found Alvarado inside his apartment and arrested him. Alvarado was taken to Gonzales County Jail.

Taylor said most of the stolen property was recovered from the apartment where Alvarado was staying. The items were returned to the pastor of the church.

Taylor said he would like to thank all law enforcement who helped with the investigation, as well as members of the Gonzales community who provided assistance.