Prayers Answered: Alleged Church Copper Thieves Caught

COOPER CITY (CBSMiami) – A string of unholy acts committed against multiple churches in the Cooper City area won't go unpunished after the Broward Sheriff's Office caught who they believe was targeting light poles for their copper.

Early Wednesday morning, BSO detectives looking for a pair of thieves who had been targeting churches pulled into the parking lot of Christ the Rock on Sterling Road to conduct surveillance. Detectives were looking for thieves who were stealing copper wiring from light poles since early September.

The detectives said they saw a man acting suspiciously and that the man then ran towards a waiting vehicle. Detectives stopped the car and found hundreds of feet of copper wiring in the back that the couple had allegedly just stolen from electrical boxes at the Cooper Office Center on Griffin Road.

BSO took Shawn Loschiavo, 28, and Tanya Yurke, 30, into custody. The duo must have wanted to hit the church because according to the BSO, both admitted to the crimes of stealing from at least seven locations in Cooper City.

Detectives said the pair was selling the metal at scrap yards. Both now face multiple charges of grand theft because while God forgives, the state of Florida doesn't.