Thieves steal more than $1K worth of copper wire from Cape Coral church

The search is on for the people responsible for stealing from a church. Cape Coral police say $1,500 worth of copper wire was stolen from New Testament Baptist Church on NE Pine Island Road.

When Pastor Bill Roan opened the utility box at the church, he found copper wires broken and taken away.

“This pipe that comes up out of the ground. They cut that between the ground level and the bottom of the portable,” said Roan.

Seeing this damage is heartbreaking for Pastor Roan. It also makes him angry.

“My daddy taught me, he said if you tell somebody you’re going to whoop him the next time you see him you either whoop em or get whooped,” said Roan.

On Tuesday, Pastor Roan showed up at New Testament Baptist Church in Cape Coral and found none of the four buildings had power.

Those buildings house the Haitian Ministry, junior church, and the church’s Reformers Unanimous, which is aimed at helping drug addicts.

“So pretty much all those things can’t be done right now? No nope. The big problem is number one, that’s my wife’s office. That’s a major problem,” said Roan.

Another problem the church faces is the price tag. To replace the wires and fix the damage done to the utility box door handle and lattices will cost $1,600. Not to mention the physical price. After he spent almost a week ten years ago helping install it the first time.

“If I can’t get that wire out, I’m going to have to dig a hole from that line and go all the way through all these sidewalks and everything,” Roan said.

According to the Cape Coral police report, the fire alarm company determined the power went out around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Pastor Roan has a message for the thieves.