“We are thankful today that the pastor was uninjured during this incident and hopeful that with amazing community members like we have been highlighting lately, we can turn the tide on crime in our city,” the post added.
Despite the altercation and the thousands of dollars of damage the perpetrator caused to the church, Neves said that he harbors no ill will.
“I don’t have hatred towards him,” Neves told CNN. “Hopefully, he’ll have to sit and think about this, and it’ll change his heart and mind, and he’ll think twice the next time he’s tempted to go out and rob from others.”
Neves told NBC that the man’s choice to burglarize the church was “ironic,” since the church had provided groceries for 130 families in the community just days previous.
“If he had come a couple of days earlier, he would have been blessed and [gotten] some food and [been] cared for,” Neves said. “But he decided instead to smash windows and desecrate property and do something that’s going to hurt the ministries.”
The police said that they intend to file charges against the assailant for burglary, robbery, and battery.
ChurchLeaders has reached out to Nick Neves for comment and will update this article in the event of a response.
