ORANGE COUNTY, Texas — A suspect wanted for allegedly burglarizing the Pine Forest Baptist Church near Vidor has confessed.
Orange County Sheriff Jimmy Lane Mooney tells 12News the suspect originally caught on camera confessed and returned the $500 laptop.
The church plans to press charges, according to Mooney.
The break-in happened on November 30, 2022 at 3 p.m., not long after the Orange Seventh-day Adventist Church and the Old First Orange Baptist Church both fell victim.
Investigators do not believe the most recent break-in is related to the October burglaries, but they did identify a suspect from that, according to Mooney.
No name has been released and they are not in custody.
Deputies say in the case of Pine Forest Baptist, someone approached the food pantry in a red vehicle, was in the building for two to three minutes and walked out with a bag.
In that bag was a laptop worth about $500.
Mooney previously told 12News that people had been reaching out with tips, narrowing down their search.
"We do get a lot of tips from the Facebook page, and some from Crimestoppers, as well as some confidential sources that we have on the street," Mooney said.
Back in in early November, 12News spoke with Brianna Manning, a board member of Seventh-Day Adventist Church.
"You don't want to see another church victimized, or another business or anything like that, it's disheartening," Manning said.
The Sheriff's Office says the holiday season is the time to take some extra precautions.
"Normally during the holidays, our thefts do pick up. It is a steady trend, around the holidays," Mooney said.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
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and prevent another church from becoming a target!
back in early november we spoke with brianna manning- a board member of seventh adventist church.
her church also burglarized!
manning sot: you don't want to see another church victimized, or another business or anything like that. * it's disheartening
the sheriffs department says now is the time to take some *extra precautions.
mooney sot: normally during the holidays, our thefts do pick up. it is a steady trend, around the holidays.
but mooney has faith in his team- they can solve this case
mooney sot: like i said it's still under investigation, and still kind of early but we are going to do our best to make sure it's taken care of>