There was a lot of looting going on in Hurricane Sandy's aftermath, but this sounds even worse: two men were arrested in Staten Island yesterday for allegedly stealing bottled water from a local church that were meant to go to storm victims. And that's not the first batch of Sandy supplies that's gone missing, either—the church says thieves have taken items like shovels, cleaning supplies, and toiletries they've been collecting since the storm.
Staten Island residents Edwin Rios, 48, William Banks, 43 were busted yesterday when cops spotted them loading up a U Haul truck with water bottles in the rear parking lot of the Christian Pentecostal Church on Richmond Road at about 2 a.m. on Friday. Officers chased them down and found the men had snagged 35 cases of Poland Spring water. The supplies were meant to go to storm victims who had been without water since the October hurricane.
The church's pastor, John Rocco Carlo say this isn't the first time he's chased thieves out of the church's parking lot, and officers suspect Rios and Banks aren't the only ones involved. "“When you see creeps like this, it bothers me. If you need it, come get it, but when you take stuff like this it’s like stealing from God,” Carlo, a retired NYPD officer, told reporters. Rios and Banks have been charged with criminal possesion of stolen property, petit larceny, and criminal trespassing.
