Tuttle Police Searching For Suspects After Church Car Burglaries

Tuttle Police are on the lookout for those responsible for breaking into cars while people were in church.

Besides purses and other valuables, a pistol is now missing causing concern for the owner.

“I'd done it many times before, but I will never do it again!” said Joyce Kettler.

It's something many of us are guilty of stashing a purse or bag in our car that we don't want to take it inside.

It's a lesson Joyce Kettler and other members of The First Christian Church in Tuttle learned the hard way.

On January 4th, she thought her purse would be safely hidden under a seat while she was inside for a small group event.

“This is a small town. I never thought that it would happen here,” she said.

But 45 minutes later, a friend ran in telling Kettler her van was one of two cars broken into in the church parking lot.

Besides the contents of her purse missing, Kettler's .38 caliber pistol was gone.

“The biggest thing, issue is the gun. Then every time I hear about an armed robbery on television I am thinking 'oh no. I hope you know it's not my gun.',”said Kettler.

In hopes it doesn't happen again, the church tossed around the idea of security guards to monitor the area.

And as a result of the incident, Senior Pastor Neil Davis cautioned his members about leaving things in their car.

“We would have loved for them to come in and say hey i need some help and we would have found something for them,” said Davis.