Hannibal Kerry was charged with burglary of a place of worship, criminal trespassing and possessing burglary tools, Chicago police said Thursday.
[Ads /]
He was arrested Wednesday in the 2200-block of North Sheffield Avenue after being identified as the person who, between Dec. 26 and 27, burglarized Saint Vincent de Paul Catholic Church at Webster and Sheffield avenues.
Chicago police said at the time someone had pried open a window before taking money from a safe and a donation bin.
"It's a big loss for the church," said Father Christopher Robinson, an instructor of religious studies at DePaul University. "Christmas is one of our biggest days."
INTERACTIVE SAFETY TRACKER Track crime and safety in your neighborhood
The holiday heist took place the day after Christmas. The St. Vincent De Paul Church in Lincoln Park is now at a loss of an estimated $9,000 or more in donations. Church staff came in to find damage all over the building.
[Ads /]
"It was immediately clear something was off," Robinson said. "Doors open that shouldn't be open, blinds where they came in through the window were all disheveled."
Father Robinson said more than 500 people attended Mass over the Christmas weekend, marking the first completely normal celebration after years of dealing with the pandemic.
The theft impacted many church services, like a soup kitchen that feeds the homeless three times a week.
SEE MORE: Chicago crime: At least $9K in donations stolen from St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, police say
"To lose this kind of collection means our outreach, our homeless outreach, is diminished," Robinson said. "Our education programs, our arts and music programs, the things we do just keeping the lights on - it's a huge hit."
[Ads /]
The suspect certainly left his mark on the church. There's some visible damage on a door where the suspect likely tried to break in at first, before moving onto a window they believe he pried open before going on to damage even more parts of the church.
SEE ALSO | Caught on camera: Group of 5 women pull off heist at California grocery store
A GoFundMe set up after the incident raised thousands of dollars.
Kerry is due in court Thursday.
Sun-Times Media contributed to this report.