A pair of heartless fiends were arrested yesterday after they were caught stealing donated supplies for Hurricane Sandy victims from a church, The New York Post reported.
Edwin Rios, 46, of Arden Heights, and William Banks, 43, of St. George, were nabbed at the Christian Pentecostal Church early Friday trying to put 35 cases of bottled water into a rented truck.
“When you see creeps like this, it bothers me. If you need it, come get it, but when you take stuff like this it’s like stealing from God,” Pastor Dr. John Rocco Carlo told the Staten Island Advance.
Carlo, a retired NYPD detective, said the thefts began before Thanksgiving, and he reached out to police. The church has been a lifeline for Sandy victims still in need of help.
“I’m glad they caught two of the guys. But to me it looks like a gang, you don’t just operate like this with a couple of people,” Carlo surmised.
The thieves had been hoisting themselves over walls to get into the locked parking lot where the supplies were stored and making off with blankets, diapers, cleaning supplies and other items.
The NYPD set up a sting operation, leaving the parking lot gate open.
Rios and Banks were charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, petty larceny and criminal trespass.
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