CAUGHT ON CAMERA: North Myrtle Beach church’s TV vandalized again

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - One North Myrtle Beach church is once again dealing with vandalism.

A TV mounted in the OD Church of the Lost and Found parking lot off Main Street was vandalized Thursday around 10:45 p.m.

Surveillance video of the crime shows four people in the area, two of whom start touching and patting the TV, which plays sermons 24/7 as part of the church’s outreach.

One of the four then slaps the TV, creating a brief flash on the screen before the picture goes back to normal. That suspect walks around for a couple of seconds before punching the TV, this time causing serious damage.

All four ran away back toward Main Street.

When the church pastor saw the damage, he said he was shocked.

”My first feeling is, how can you do that to a church?” said OD Church of the Lost and Found Pastor Richard Wilson.

The TV was a 55-inch Hi-Sense flat screen valued at $1,800, according to a North Myrtle Beach police report.

Police tried to “lift latent” fingerprints, but that was unsuccessful. No arrests were indicated in the report.

“Wrong place at the wrong time, and they decided to make a decision that could impact the rest of their life. The rest of their life,” said Wilson. “It breaks my heart that somebody does not love God enough to just respect what’s his. Do churches not mean anything like that used to?”

This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. A little over a year ago, a TV at the same spot was vandalized.

That time, surveillance cameras caught one person throwing a folding chair at the monitor and running away. Moments later, that person returned with two others, and they hit the TV and ripped it down.

“A little over a year ago, we had somebody come by, and thank goodness we had the cameras, and they just decided they didn’t like what was going on there, and they destroyed the TV,” said Wilson.

Until the vandals are caught, Pastor Wilson said he and his congregation will just keep praying for them.

“However this happened, whenever it happened, that doesn’t change our love for these people. We don’t want nothing bad to happen to them. We’re not here to harm them or hurt them,” said Wilson.

The church said an anonymous donor has already given them a new TV.

Anyone with information is encouraged to reach out to the North Myrtle Beach Police Department’s non-emergent number: 843-280-5511.

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