Police: Dayton church member caught with hand in donation jar

Credit: MONTGOMERY COUNTY JAIL

Credit: MONTGOMERY COUNTY JAIL

A member of Target Ministries is accused of breaking into the Dayton church to steal money from a donation jar.

Police responded around 8:15 a.m. Tuesday to the church, 111 Xenia Ave., after the director reported that a parishioner, identified as 37-year-old Blake Parish, stole money and was now at the front door of the church, according to a Dayton police report.

>> Several business break-ins reported overnight in Dayton, Harrison Twp.

Surveillance video showed Parish inside the church around 1 a.m. Tuesday, the report stated. The director said the building was locked, and that this was the third recent theft.

Parish told police he took $5 from a donation jar so he could buy cigarettes and a lighter, and he said the door was unlocked, the report stated.

He was arrested and booked into the Montgomery County Jail on suspicion of felony breaking and entering. He is due in court Wednesday.

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