Oak Harbor police are investigating a burglary followed by an incident of malicious mischief last week at Mission Ministry Outreach church on Goldie Road.
Pastor Fannie Dean, who leads the primarily black Southern Baptist-style congregation, said she suspects the damage may be racially motivated.
“They skipped so many other churches on Goldie Road,” Dean said.
Dean said she called police after arriving at the church Friday morning to find her office window broken. After taking inventory, Dean said the following items were found to be missing: $215 from a cash drawer, $200 from the offering basket, jewelry and various computer and electronic equipment.
The next day, Dean found that someone had thrown rocks through the glass doors of her new church next door, currently under construction.
It appeared that someone tried to pry back the plywood placed over the broken window from the night before, she said.
Dean said a car stereo was also stolen from a nearby parked vehicle and the interior smelled as if it was doused in gasoline.
Dean said the congregation’s church service on Sunday was “so emotional” because they were “so sad the enemy came in. They chose to break into God’s house. Have mercy on them.”
Police Detective Sgt. Mike Bailey said an investigator was assigned to the case.
It is too early to identify suspects or determine motivation, he said.
The Thursday night burglary may not be related to what they believe was “malicious mischief” the following night, but they will look at every possibility, he said.
In February, Dean said she arrived at the church to discover that someone turned on an exterior water spout, causing the church’s water bill to skyrocket.
Dean said she was the target of racist phone calls and notes in 2009, according to a regional TV news report.
She said the messages included comments like, “you gotta go.”
A window of a thrift store she previously owned was also broken. In the late 1990s, someone also reportedly set fire to the family’s van.
Dean, the wife of a retired Navy officer, has been a pastor in Oak Harbor for about 40 years.
