Thief steals copper pipes from Silver Lake church twice in one month

SILVER LAKE, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Police are looking for a thief who targeted a Silver Lake church twice and allegedly stole copper piping. Now the church is struggling to conduct their work.

Security footage shows a thief turning off the water at Silver Lake Community Church just before the copper pipes on the roof went missing.

The thief targeted the church twice in June. Those missing pipes are now impacting the work of the church.

Pastor Kyle Joachim said they use the space to help serve the community.

"Because the water has been shut off, we haven't been able to do a lot of the stuff that we do to help people," Joachim said.

The church feeds more than 100 people weekly with hot meals and food pantry items.

They also offer free showers every Saturday for people experiencing homelessness. The showers are run by the SELAH Neighborhood Homeless Coalition. About 40 people show up every weekend.

"Not being able to have a shower or change their clothing is... it's detrimental," said Stephanie Young, office manager of Silver Lake Community Church.

Joachim noted an uptick in vandalism at the church.

"We've had people since the pandemic graffiti on the walls, breaking windows. But this is the first time it really felt like there was a calculated attempt to exploit the church's vulnerability," Joachim said.

Spending money on missing pipes takes away grant-funded homeless services offered at the church.

A police report was filed, but the pipe repairs are costly. They've been quoted upwards of $10,000.

"Not only are we nonprofit, we rely on the donations of our small congregation to help us with the day-to-day, like keeping the lights on," Young said.

The Silver Lake Community Church is accepting donations on the website under the Restoration Fundraising tab.