Man Rifles Through Cars Parked Outside a Church

BETHANY, MO — Persons attending a Sunday evening worship service at Immanuel Baptist Church witnessed a rather unChrisitan-like act unfolding in the parking lot just outside the church. Worshippers said a man was wandering through the parking lot and rifling through vehicles parked there. When approached, the man said he was homeless and needed money. Church members were not impressed, and drove the man to the Highway Patrol office down the street. As they prepared to turn the man over to a State Trooper, the man bolted away, running through the MoDOT lot and behind the laundry mat. He was brought back into custody about 20 minutes later and taken to the Harrison County Law Enforcement Center. The man, Ronald C. Allen, 22, of San Bernardino, Calif., was charged with tampering in the second degree and possession of meth and drug paraphernalia. Bethany city police officers later confirmed the suspect was staying at a local motel where drugs were found in the room also occupied by a girlfriend, who was charged with possession of meth. The woman told officers that her mother had sent her money to buy a bus ticket back to California but she had used the money to buy drugs instead. Ironically, another member of the suspect’s family, also from San Bernardino but then living in Newtown, Mo., was arrested several months ago for the theft of cars parked at Bethany businesses. He also, reportedly, was trying to find a way back to California.