A woman was arrested inside a downtown Henderson church Monday night and is suspected of stealing from its food pantry, which a church member had touted to the City Council only hours earlier.
Virginia Perry, 43, of 507 Hillside Ave. was arrested inside Holy Faith Temple for All People at 506 S. Chestnut St., according to a news release from Henderson police Lt. V.W. Johnson.
Johnson’s report says officers discovered the door ajar at the church about 10:55 p.m. and recognized that the door had been forced open. Suspecting that the culprit was still inside, Officer D.R. Tharrington got the assistance of Officer G.L. Williams and K-9 Enzo for a search of the property.
Enzo quickly found Perry in a back storage room, police reported.
Perry was charged with felonious breaking and entering and was jailed under a $10,000 secured bond. She’s due in court June 28.
City Council member Mary Emma Evans told her colleagues Tuesday night that Perry was raiding Holy Faith Temple’s food pantry, which hands out food six days a week.
Evans said Perry is suspected of involvement in the theft of thousands of pounds of meat in recent weeks. The pantry buys the meat at a drastically discounted price, but the thefts still represented a loss of thousands of dollars, the council member said.
She credited police Capt. Mike Davis with setting up an alarm to catch the food thief.
Lucille Quinitchette Williams, Evans’ sister, appeared before the City Council on behalf of the church and its food pantry about two hours before Perry’s arrest.
Williams was there to request the use of the city’s Operations & Service Center on Saturday, June 18, from 2 to 6 p.m. for a fundraiser.
“We are nonprofit, and we are helping the city,” she said. “We’re not getting any help. … We need a bit.”
She told the council that Holy Faith Temple’s pantry distributes more than 30,000 pounds of food per month. By comparison, she noted that the annual food collection by the Postal Service on May 7 brought in 8,500 pounds in Henderson; none of that food went to Holy Faith Temple.
“We give out more food than anybody I know,” Williams said.
The council unanimously approved Holy Faith Temple’s use of the Operations & Service Center for the fundraiser. Williams said the event will be a gospel program with dinner. She noted that soft drinks, not alcohol, will be served.
“I applaud your efforts, I really do,” council member Mike Rainey said.