Two Suspects Arrested in Church Burglaries

GARDEN GROVE — Two men suspected of sneaking into Orange County churches to steal musical equipment were arrested this week at a pawn shop with a keyboard taken the night before from an Irvine congregation, police said.

Brian James McGuire, 38, and Larry Van Bradley, 43, both of Santa Ana, were being held Tuesday in Orange County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bail.

Records show McGuire has sold more than 30 keyboards, speakers and other musical gear in recent months, and all of it may be stolen from area churches, investigators said.

“Churches have a sense of trust, obviously, a sense of sanctuary,” said Irvine Police Det. Henry Boggs, who has tracked McGuire since August. “These guys took advantage of that and made a business out of it.”

Boggs said McGuire would slip into unlocked churches, often after a wedding or a Sunday service, and walk out with valuable electronic equipment. Bradley would drive the getaway car, police said.

Police said they have traced some of the gear sold by McGuire back to churches in Santa Ana, Irvine and Costa Mesa, and hope to identify other victims.

“We have well over 15 pieces of property that we would like to identify, so we want to get the word out to churches to contact us if they have items missing,” Boggs said.

Some congregations may be unaware that equipment is missing, or church officials may have reported a theft without providing local police with serial numbers, Boggs said.

“That’s who we’re looking for,” he added.

McGuire caught the attention of Irvine investigators in August but had managed to elude arrest until police recognized a pattern in his visits to a Garden Grove pawn shop.

The pair were arrested Monday in Garden Grove on suspicion of commercial burglary.

“He went to this place on Monday,” Boggs said. “Steal on Sunday, sell on Monday. It’s a shock to the conscience, isn’t it?”

Anyone with information about stolen items from churches is asked to call Boggs at (714) 724-7000.