ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - A would-be thief is caught, accused of trying to steal the life-sized sculpture of Jesus sleeping on a park bench in downtown St. Louis.
The Reverend Larry Rice says it happened Tuesday night around 9:30 outside his New Life Evangelistic Center at 1411 Locust St., where the sculpture is on display.
"It's getting worse. Jesus said in the last days the love of many would grow cold," Rice said. "Jesus is on a bench. You see the nail prints in his feet and hands, and then someone would want to come along and steal that for a few dollars."
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Rice believes the man was probably planning to sell the sculpture for scrap, because the city is in the midst of a wave of scrap metal thefts, often targeting catalytic converters on parked cars.
A resident in a nearby loft spotted the crime in progress, confronted the man and called police who came by and made the arrest, Rice said.
The culprit had used a power tool to cut through two of the three metal struts attaching the sculpture to the sidewalk – and was working on the third – when he was interrupted by the neighbor, drove away and was caught, Rice said.
St. Louis Police confirm they arrested a 57-year-old man in a "derelict black pick up truck attempting to cut a bench in front of the N.L.E.C. with a saw."
The arrest was made when officers spotted the pickup nearby, in the 1500 block of Locust. A gas-powered saw was located inside of the vehicle and the investigation is ongoing, police said.
A spokesman for St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner says police are still investigating, so there are no charges filed.
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Rice says police told him the suspect was released "after three hours" in custody, "because the crime was non-violent."
The artwork was purchased through donations at a cost of $33,000 and would probably be sold for a fraction of that for scrap, Rice said.
He says the bronze sculpture weighs several hundred pounds, and took a forklift to install.
It's one of only a handful of examples of the sculpture on display around the world – including one outside the United Nations in New York, and another at the Vatican.
The New Life Center has been shuttered since April of 2017, after neighbors complained the homeless congregating around the center had made it a "nuisance property."
Rice is thanking the police for intervening, but worried the sculpture could be targeted again. He's asking scrap metal dealers to call police if in the future anyone shows up trying to sell a sculpture of Jesus sleeping on a park bench.
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