BEAUMONT, Texas — A would-be church burglar got a little more than he bargained for Tuesday morning when he was caught in the act by an armed deacon.
When Quentin Grant, a deacon at Impact Ministries, arrived at the church in the 1100 block of Delaware St., just before 10:20 a.m., he says he caught a man in the act of stealing from the church.
The man has been identified as Leon Goodman, 45, of Beaumont.
Grant could see one of the church’s speakers sitting in the entryway behind the glass doors he told 12News. Seeing this he knew something wasn’t right.
He drew his gun, went inside the church and immediately flipped a breaker that turned on all the lights and saw Goodman walking toward him.
Grant then told Goodman to lay on the floor before he called 911, Grant told 12News on Tuesday.
He held Goodman at gunpoint until officers arrived at the church.
Grant says he had gone to the church to do some cleaning in the office when he found Goodman burglarizing the church.
Goodman had the speaker, a spotlight he’d removed from a wall, a fan and other electronic equipment ready to carry out, according to Grant.
Police officers said Goodman was known to them, Grant told 12News.
Goodman has a prior list of convictions which 12News obtained from the Jefferson County District Clerk.
- 1999 - Convicted burglary of a building, sentenced to 4 years probation
- 2000 - Probation revoked and got 1 year in prison
- 2010 - Convicted of manufacturing/delivery of controlled substance, sentenced to 10 months state jail
- 2014 - Convicted of possession of a controlled substance, sentenced to 2 years prison
- 2023 - Convicted of possession of a controlled substance, Sentenced to 2 years prison
Police took Goodman into custody.
This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
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