Cambridge Man Accused of Stoneham Church Donation-Box Thief Held On $50K Bail [VIDEO]

WOBURN - A 51-year-old Cambridge man with a 45-page record was ordered held on $50,000 cash bail after he was allegedly caught red-handed breaking into a locked collection box at a Stoneham church and stealing about $100 in cash.

After John Andrew McHale's arrest on Wednesday, he allegedly admitted that he had broken into a collection box at the same church last October netting only a few dollars.

An apologetic McHale allegedly admitted what he did was wrong and that he felt bad because he grew up in Stoneham and attended that church. He allegedly told police he stole from the church collection boxes to feed his drug habit, according to court documents.

In Woburn District Court on Thursday, Judge David Frank ordered McHale held on $50,000 cash bail or $500,000 surety after he pleaded not guilty to charges of: breaking into a depository; larceny from a building; malicious destruction of property and possession of a burglarious instrument (screwdriver).

McHale's next court date is an April 3 pretrial conference.

While defense attorney Kara Lordan said it was unlikely McHale can post bail, the judge said if he does McHale is to stay away from the church at 71 Central St. and wear a GPS monitoring device with the church's address as an exclusionary zone.

In court, prosecutor Denise Flagg sought a $100,000 cash bail noting McHale's 45-page criminal record in Florida and California, as well as more than 50 guilty pleas in criminal cases in Massachusetts. Most of his past crime were for similar offenses and drug charges, Flagg said.

Flagg explained that at about 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 20, the church janitor saw a man using a screwdriver to break into the locked collection box next to the prayer-candle display and steal the money inside. He estimated there was about $150 to $200 in the box.

The janitor yelled at the thief and escorted him from the building. As he did so, the janitor used his cell phone to snap photos of the thief. The man went to a bicycle that was chained to a street sign and left.

Police viewed the church's security system which showed the same man walk through the church lobby several times, sit on a bench across from the donation box and once other parishoners left, he approached the donation box used a flashlight to look into it and then pulled out a long screwdriver.

The video shows the suspect stuffing the content of the box into his jacket and then he was confronted by the janitor.

The janitor told police that the thief was the same person suspected of breaking into the same donation box on Oct. 9. Church officials had McHale's name.

Stoneham police ran McHale's name and found he had a warrant for his arrest out of Cambridge for a Nov.16, 2010 incident. A comparison of the booking photo and church photos confirmed McHale's identification.

On March 6, Stoneham police released photos of the suspect and asked for the public's help to located McHale. As a result, police received numerous tips, including one that said McHale was attending the New Horizons Medical center in Lynn.

Officers conducted surveillance and arrested McHale after he left the medical center on Wednesday.

Photo by Lisa Redmond at Patch.com.