Albuquerque church break-in damages windows, door ahead of craft fair

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  — Someone broke into Grace Church by smashing four windows, a door and a television, causing about $4,000 in damage.

Pastor Aaron Giesler said the break-in occurred around 2 a.m. Tuesday as the church prepared for its Holly Day Craft Fair.

Giesler said a young man threw rocks through multiple windows, broke a door to enter the church and remained inside for about 25 minutes before leaving with a couple of Bibles.

“I watched the video because we have multiple angles of this guy going on. And so my next reaction was like compassion, and this guy was having a hard day. He was having a worse day than I’ve ever had,” Giesler said.

Giesler said he does not plan to press charges and does not believe the incident was a hate crime.

“He was talking to a family member, kind of, you know, he wanted to be inside the church to deal with some stuff that he was going through,” Giesler said.

After Grace Church posted about the break-in on social media, Giesler said community members reached out to offer services and help pay for repairs.

“He finally broke some windows. He couldn’t get in that way. He finally broke one of the doors and he got in through the door,” Giesler said.

Despite the damage, the church plans to move forward with its Holly Day Craft Fair.

“We’ll have over 100 vendors throughout the entire church, and it happens this Friday and Saturday,” Giesler said.

Giesler said the craft fair helps fund missionary work and supports an orphanage in India that houses about 100 children. The church has supported the orphanage since the 1990s, he said.

“It’s going to help us go, and it helps fund buildings and food and stuff like that for them. None of the money goes to any of the opera- the vendors pay a fee. There’s no charge to get in, and all the vendor fees go to support missions,” Giesler said.

The craft fair starts Friday from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. and continues Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

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