The power of prayer: When armed robbers...

The power of prayer: When armed robbers took a carpet cleaner’s van belonging to Salvador Ruiz in the Walnut Park area, he went to the Firestone sheriff’s station to report the theft and then phoned for his wife to pick him up.

While waiting for her, he asked if there was a church nearby where he “could pray to get his vehicle back,” Lt. Dennis Wilson said.

Ruiz was directed to Saint Aloysius Gonzaga Catholic Church. When he left the church, he spotted his van parked nearby. Ruiz ran to the station and alerted deputies, who recovered the vehicle and arrested the startled driver, only three hours after the theft.

Lt. Wilson said of Ruiz: “He’s a very religious man. He’s probably more so now.”