Detectives tie church burglaries together

A former Californian living in a van in Clearwater is arrested in connection with the thefts from at least six area churches.

By ED QUIOCO, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 23, 2003

A 23-year-old man living out of a broken-down Plymouth van burglarized and ransacked at least six churches in Clearwater, Dunedin and Oldsmar, according to detectives.

John D. Rifenberg has targeted churches since November, usually breaking in by prying open a rear window or door, authorities said. Once inside, he rifled through drawers and cabinets and searched preschool classrooms for things to steal, according to reports.

"You're stepping down pretty low to do that," said sheriff's spokesman Detective Tim Goodman.

In one church, Rifenberg stole a laptop computer and some money, according to his arrest report. In others, he took $35, broke into a safety deposit box and stole checks from an office, the report states.

Rifenberg was arrested Monday and charged with five counts of burglary and three counts of forging stolen checks. He was held Tuesday at the Pinellas County Jail in lieu of $80,000 bail.

Investigators also discovered in his van an Internet map of Clearwater and a three-page computer printout listing about 60 churches in the city. About seven or eight of the churches on that list were crossed off; and about half of those marked were burglarized, said sheriff's burglary Detective Mike Weaver.

Weaver said Rifenberg told him "he had some anger toward churches."

At the Grace Lutheran Church in Clearwater, $35 was stolen from the office of the preschool director, said Pastor Phillip Whitener. But it was obvious the burglar searched throughout the church.

"It was almost like the whole building had been gone through meticulously," Whitener said.

Whitener discovered the crime about two weeks ago. He had just arrived at the church for the day when he noticed some office lights had been turned on. He also saw door moldings on the floor. That's when he called police.

"You just think, 'Why us?" he said.

Detectives said they began to uncover the string of burglaries in December after Rifenberg cashed two checks stolen from the Holy Apostles Catholic Charismatic Church in Dunedin.

Detectives then matched his fingerprints to ones left at the Community United Methodist Church in Oldsmar. It had been burglarized earlier this month.

The two prints matched, Weaver said. Detectives investigating other church burglaries compared notes and saw similarities in the cases.

Detectives knew where to find Rifenberg; he was living out of a van parked in a lot at a Clearwater apartment complex.

Rifenberg moved to Florida from California about six months ago, Weaver said. He admitted committing the burglaries, said Weaver, who added that detectives also found in his van empty wallets and forms of identification belonging to other people.

Some of the burglarized churches are considering additional security.

"We were thinking about doing it anyway," said Thomas Bannen, director of administration at First Christian Church in Clearwater, which was burglarized but reported nothing missing. "But this moved it a little higher on the priority list."

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