An Opelousas church has been the target of a recent break-in. The attempted burglary is now bringing light to looting in the area.

Pastor Robert Angelou of Greater Abundaunt Life Church in Christ  was preparing for a typical Wednesday night bible study when he arrived and noticed something unusual with the front door.

“I immediately knew that it’s not supposed to look like that. That’s how I know someone had been in here,” he said.

When Pastor Angelou arrived, it was evident from the door structure, that someone with bad intentions made an appearance.

“I saw this right here. See how they broke this loose. Right here. There’s a leg that goes down here into the floor. That stabilizes it and also one that goes up inside the door,” he said describing the damage to the front door.

He called the Opelousas Sherrif’s Office before entering. “I wouldn’t dare go in because I didn’t know whether or not they were still in there or not,” said Pastor Angelou.

Officers entered through the glass doors that were already unlocked. There was no damage inside the church. The collection box, however, was scuffed and cracked open.

“That’s a drop box where we usually drop funds in, but we don’t leave the money in there,” he said. The drawer was already cleared out. “They couldn’t get it open. They really twisted it up trying to open it,” Angelou added.

“God ran him out. The Holy Ghost spirit ran him out before he could take another chance to take anything else,” said First Lady Mary Angelou.

The two walked down the street to warn the neighbors of what happened. It was then that they discovered break-ins are very common within this area. “They are breaking into homes and cars, going into people driveways, stealing things in their cars, stealing guns. Money whatever they can find,” Angelou added.

News 10 spoke with the neighbhors as well who confirmed the multple series of forced-entry over the past few weeks. They have beefed up securuity to help protect themselves. Pastor Angelou plans to do the same as he replaces the broken doors.

The Sheriff’s Office is still investigating the incident.