A man addicted to crack is accused of burglarizing Catholic churches in the Bronx, N.Y., in retaliation against Catholic priests.
Man Accused Of Robbing NYC Churches: MyFoxNY.com
Nathaniel Linden (pictured), who claims to have witnessed his mother's murder as a child and was handed over to foster care, told police that just walking by a Catholic church ignites his ire, "I am angry at the church for molesting children. That's why I started going after churches. I don't case them out," he said. "I just walk by and get angry."
According to the 51-year-old's friends, though, while Linden is a known addict, he has never brought up his disdain for Catholic churches:
"He never said anything about the Catholic Church," said pal Dennis Perrington, who lives in Linden's Kingsbridge Heights building, to the NY Daily News. "He was robbing from the poor. That's despicable."
Linden did apologize to investigators for urinating outside one of the churches he hit, then continued to ramble on to police about his modus operandi with regards to the burglaries.
Police also suspect Linden is guilty of robbing nine other churches since November 6th in addition to the two that he is accused of ripping off. Thus far, investigators estimate that Linden has stolen thousands of dollars that had been earmarked for families in various Bronx communities.
Linden appears to be a serial church burglar.
On November 4th, he was released from prison, after doing a five-year stint for committing the very same crime he is currently accused of doing.
Linden is being held on a $50,000 bond.