Serial church burglar: Man responsible for multiple break-ins in custody

MANOR, Texas - Officials say that an alleged serial church burglar is now in custody. 

The Manor Police Department says it arrested Gregory Vaden on Oct. 8, on two counts of burglary.

Church burglar arrested

The backstory:

The arrest happened in the parking lot of a Taco Bell in Manor on Tuesday night.

Manor police were alerted to a small red SUV by an electronic license plate reader that notified officers that the vehicle was linked to an arrest warrant out of Austin.

45-year-old Gregory Dewayne Vaden was arrested.

While searching the vehicle, a gun and a plastic baggie containing meth were recovered. The arresting officer, in his report, noted that Vaden told him he had recently relapsed and was using meth again.

Timeline:

Austin police linked Vaden to the September 28 burglary of the Praise Jesus Church on Braker Lane, and to a break-in at a social services organization in south Austin on September 4. 

Those Austin cases are being connected to the September 15 burglary of Trinity Church, which is being investigated by Jonestown PD. That incident was followed a few days later by a break-in at a Lutheran church in Lago Vista, which is being investigated by the Travis County Sheriff’s Office. 

A burglary last week, in Liberty Hill at Vintage Church, at the time, provided some of the best security camera images of the suspect and the car he drove, including a close-up view of a tattoo, which matches the one on Vaden’s arm.

Dig deeper:

Vaden confessed to Williamson County Sheriff's Office detectives. In talking with detectives, Vaden allegedly mentioned his drug addiction and also provided a motive, saying he owed people money. 

Vaden said he lives in south Austin but is from the coastal bend area. He has a long criminal history — dating back to 2009 — with multiple charges for burglary, theft, breaking into vending machines and drug possession.

In some of those cases, Vaden served limited jail time. But a few of the cases ended up being dismissed. 

For the recent cases, Vaden is facing felony charges. The total bond has been set at $25,000. 

In requesting a high bond, it was noted in the arrest warrant that Vaden, according to investigators, is a habitual offender and past attempts at reforming his behavior have been ineffective.

Pastor speaks on arrest

Local perspective:

Pastor Nathan Brown of Vintage Church spoke about how the arrest provides an opportunity for relief, for forgiveness and for a warning.

"It's, it's a mixed bag, right? It's a relief to know that this specific incident appears to have some resolution to it. We also know that there are other threats that continue," said Pastor Brown.

Since the break in, Pastor Brown said some church members have been feeling a little tense.

"And part of that was because of the evacuation that occurred. So, after his break-in, you know, our security cameras found that he came in, left, perhaps left a backpack on the property. We later discovered that it was probably picked up by him. But we had students who were meeting at that time. We had a couple of discipleship classes. There were over a hundred people in the building that the police department and the sheriff's department had to evacuate in order for the bomb squad to do their thing. So, you can imagine that left a number of parents and students and just people in the church a little on edge," said Brown.

If he had a chance to sit down with Vaden, Brown indicated it would be a discussion about forgiveness and healing.

"I don't know if I would tell them anything first. I'd probably start by asking a lot of questions, um, because someone doesn't get to a place like that overnight. I would want to tell him, hey man, if you're awake today living and breathing, there's still hope for you," said Pastor Brown.

Along with the message of forgiveness, Pastor Brown said there is also a message for local churches.

"We got to keep our guard up. I think churches, you know, Jesus is described as a lion and a lamb, and we're called the body of Christ. I think we've had a lot of lamb churches and lamb Christians for a long time. I do think this is a season and time when we've got to have a few more lion Christians. And so I would encourage churches to get a safety team put together, to get a security team put together. If you don't have one inside, maybe look to hire one out. We do need to be on guard," said Brown.

Texas church burglaries

Dig deeper:

Church break-ins have made headlines at least seven times in Texas since January.

Below is a quick review of some notable, unrelated, cases:

• Stained-glass windows were broken to gain access to a church in Temple.
• Building materials for churches were stolen in Fort Worth and Houston.
• A church safe was taken in Selma, which is near San Antonio.
• Church property-theft cases were also reported in the Metroplex Oak Cliff neighborhood, Jasper County in east Texas, and in north Harris County.