The man accused of breaking into a Hartford church during Bible study to disable the alarm, then stealing two television sets the next morning has been identified as Miles Harris, who is also a suspect in other church burglaries, according to police.
The video surveillance shows the man ripping two flat-screen televisions off the wall of the Family Worship Center on Blue Hills Avenue last Thursday morning and police are hoping that video can help investigators track him down.
Police said Tuesday that Harris is wanted for questioning in connection with the burglary.
He is also wanted on outstanding felony charges pertaining to the assault of an elderly man in Hartford, according to police.
Authorities have not been able to locate Harris and are asking for the public's help in tracking him down.
According to surveillance footage from the Family Worship Center, the suspect hauled one TV across the parking lot, then went back minutes later and took another TV.
“At first, chills were all over my body,” said Pastor Cecil Hume, who arrived at the church a short time later to discover the TVs were missing. Then, he checked the surveillance footage.
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“It's like you're watching a movie,” Hume said.
The suspect was strategic, Hume said. The man walked in the night before and paced the hallways while the Boble study group men in the back room.
“It hurts me to know we were in that room for 25 or so minutes, this man was walking up and down the foyer out there,” Hume said.
The culprit disabled the alarm system and unlocked a back window so he could get in undetected the next day, according to Pastor Hume.
“For years, we have been doing this without any problem. This is the very first time we experienced anything like this,” Hume said. “It's a church. I was angry.”
Anyone with information about the burglary or Harris' whereabouts is asked to call Hartford police Sgt. Brandon O'Brien at 860-757-4089.
Above photos courtesy of the Hartford Police Department.
