olice search for two suspects wanted in connection with an
attempted robbery at Sacred Heart Church’s bingo night Friday
Hollister – Gun-toting masked robbers ordered volunteers to the floor and tried to steal the proceeds of Sacred Heart Church’s weekly bingo night Friday, but fled the scene after failing to find the loot.
One of the men, described as being 5 feet 5 inches tall and about 160 pounds, entered the church gymnasium shortly before 11pm and ordered the volunteers – a mother and her three children – to the ground, Hollister Police Information Officer George Ramirez said. The man was carrying a rifle or shotgun and a red mask covered his face. Another masked man, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and jeans, stood outside the gym door watching for police, Ramirez said.
The man then tried to kick in the door of the room he thought contained the church’s safe and bingo money, but fled the scene with his watchman shortly after discovering that the safe was not in the room, Ramirez said. The mother and her school-age children, who were putting away tables after bingo night, were not injured and no shots were fired, Ramirez said. Police are searching for both men.
“There is no indication that this was gang-related,” Ramirez said. “But we’re not ruling anything out at this point.”
Father Rudy Ruiz, the church’s pastor, was offended by the attempted robbery but grateful that no one was hurt.
“Everyone, whether Catholic or not, feels that this was a violation of an institution that should be respected,” he said. “This says so much about these men. When they are caught they will loose the respect of their family, friends and the community.”
Sacred Heart Church has held weekly bingo nights every Friday for more years than Ruiz could remember, without incident, he said. The bingo night usually draws between 150 and 165 people, but nearly all the players had left before the attempted robbery, Ruiz said.
Bingo night usually brings in between $1,000 and $2,000 a month for the church and its private kindergarten through eighth-grade school. The money is used for maintaining and improving the church’s buildings, some of which are more than 100 years old, said Holly Chavez, the church’s bookkeeper.
“We’re extremely grateful,” Chavez said. “There could have been $100,000 in there and they could have left with every penny of it so long as no one was hurt. If (the robbers) hadn’t been scared off, who’s to say what would have happened.”
Police do not know why the suspects fled the scene, Ramirez said.
Chavez said the robbers never demanded the keys and that bingo volunteers do not have access to the safe, which contains an undisclosed amount of money, under any circumstances. Chavez was shocked that anyone would try to rob the church’s bingo fundraiser.
“I’m still having a hard time believing that someone would do this,” she said. “But we’re not going to allow them to intimidate us.”
Ruiz said bingo nights will continue, albeit with additional security and increased police patrols in the area. However, paying for a security guard will take away from the fundraiser’s proceeds – and subsequently the church’s building fund. Ruiz said he did not know how much it would cost to hire a security guard. *And although the incident was upsetting, Ruiz praised the police for their quick response.
“We’re so proud of the service and protection offered by the police,” he said. “They took this incident very seriously.”
Anyone with information regarding the attempted robbery should call Detective Tony Lamonica at the Hollister Police Department at (831) 636-4330.
Brett Rowland covers public safety for the Free Lance. He can be reached at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
