OLEAN, N.Y. — A day after Ash Wednesday, Olean police arrested a local man whom investigators allege broke into St. John’s Roman Catholic Church last month, ransacked the place and burned a holy book to ashes.
Members of the city police department’s Criminal Investigation Unit on Thursday charged Thomas Kissinger, 21, of 1220 N. Union St., with third-degree burglary and second-degree criminal mischief, both class D felonies; and fourth-degree arson, a class E felony.
The incident at the 931 N. Union St. church reportedly caused several thousand dollars in damage. Authorities allege Kissinger broke into the sanctuary in the early morning hours of Feb. 14 by breaking the glass to the main entrance. He allegedly damaged ritual candles and set fire to a Roman Catholic missal, a holy text used to direct daily Mass at the altar, said Olean Police Capt. Robert Blovsky.
“That (door) apparently is irreplaceable, the glass in there. There was stuff just kind of thrown around, too,” Blovsky said.
“He’s just blaming it on being drunk and stupid. He was at an establishment. I don’t want to point that one out or anything but, yeah, he had been out drinking.”
The investigation continues, he added.
Church employees that day reported finding the sanctuary in disarray upon arriving work around 7:30 a.m. The small fire of the missal, which was taken from the altar and placed down on the carpet, appeared to have extinguished itself naturally, Blovsky said.
The Rev. John Arogyasami, a temporary administrator at the church, said the congregation “prays for” the defendant.
“Until we know exactly what was the mindset of the person, that is something only the police can tell us through their inquiry, what the motive was,” Arogyasami said. “Oh, my God, in this 21st century, why should things be happening like this? … May the Lord forgive them.”
Some damaged items were replaced quickly and easily.
“Therefore, it was not a big problem for us,” Arogyasami added. “Most of the things like the carpet — we’ll have to work on it where it was burned — and books are replaceable. The candle holders, we had some of them (in storage) and some of them we had to buy. We are thankful to God and St. John, the patron saint of the church, that it was not a huge damage to the community and for protecting the church from the fire.”
Kissinger, who has given a statement to police investigators, was arraigned Thursday in Olean City Court and released under supervision to return with an attorney at 9 a.m. Thursday, March 9.
“He came in and was cooperative,” Blovsky noted.
The police captain credited Sgt. Tim Cashimere of the Criminal Investigation Unit with pursuing leads and gathering evidence near the church.
“It was just doing some talking to the neighbors and looking at video,” Blovsky said. “Nowadays, there’s video quite often in neighborhoods.”
Investigators do not believe Kissinger is a St. John’s parishioner nor that he has any connection to the church other than living nearby.
Arogyasami said St. John’s had suffered a similar incident of vandalism perhaps about 20 years ago.
“(Parishioners) said something was burned down and people were really upset,” the priest said. “People felt a little shock.”
About 450 families are members of St. John’s Church, Arogyasami said, noting roughly 300 people regularly attend Sunday services.
