Thief grabs cash from church offering box

Donations inside an offering box have again been stolen from Holy Family Catholic Church, police said.

The theft was reported 5:25 p.m. Thursday after a woman saw a man flip the offering box upside down and attempt to retrieve money from a slot, according to Glendale police reports.

This incident wasn’t the first theft of donations from the church at 209 E. Lomita Ave.

Last year, Peter Galindro was convicted of two felony counts of burglary after stealing about $400 from the church’s collection boxes, which contained donations to help the poor and for Haiti relief.

Galindro, who was sentenced to serve two years in state prison for the thefts, was also linked to a burglary at Saint Finbar in Burbank.

Police were able to get video surveillance footage of him stealing cash from a collection box.

In the latest theft at Holy Family, church staffers emptied out the offering box earlier that day, according to police, so just a few dollars likely were lost.

Video surveillance footage showed the man looking around, examining the offering box and entering and exiting the building, church Facilities Manager Bill Evans said.

Police haven’t reviewed the video because Evans had yet to turn it over to detectives.

The man was described as Latino, about 5 foot 3 inches tall and 150 pounds. He wore a dark blue and white polo shirt and black jeans. He was carrying a dark-colored backpack, police said.