Man Confesses to Stealing Copper from Ardmore, Wynnewood Churches

An Upper Darby man suspected of stealing six copper downspouts from Trinity Lutheran Church in Havertown last week turned himself into authorities and confessed to that crime and several other area copper thefts, Haverford Township Police announced yesterday.

Steven Michael Molitor, 34, was charged with four counts each of institutional vandalism, theft by unlawful taking, and receiving stolen property.

According to Haverford Police, Trinity Lutheran’s surveillance system captured a white male removing the downspouts from the church the morning of Oct. 10 and putting them in a silver Honda Accord. After Action News broadcast the video on Oct. 11, police received two tips from viewers identifying the thief as Molitor.

Molitor subsequently came to the station and, in the course of an interview, confessed to the Trinity Lutheran copper theft, as well as previous thefts of St. George’s Church in Ardmore in mid-September and the Church of the Holy Apostles in Wynnewood on Oct. 1, police said.

Molitor was arrested, charged, and arraigned on Oct. 16 and his bail was set at $25,000. He faces preliminary hearing on Oct. 25.