Santa Ana police are asking for help identifying two men who cut a bronze statue of Jesus from its base at Christ Our Savior Catholic Church and dragged it toward Segerstrom High School before loading it into a vehicle. The statue was valued at about $50,000, according to police information shared in the department’s #WantedWednesday video.
The men entered the church grounds at 2000 W. Alton Ave. on Aug. 30 carrying a bag, took out an electric cutting tool and removed the statue. Investigators say the suspects then hauled it across the property toward the school and drove away. Police have not announced an arrest or said whether the statue has been recovered.
A repeat theft at the parish
The August theft followed an April incident at the same church in which suspects damaged perimeter fencing and cut portions of the bronze statue, according to reported details attributed to the Santa Ana Police Department. That earlier episode caused thousands of dollars in property damage. Police have not publicly identified the suspects in either incident.
The parish’s cathedral complex at Alton Avenue and Raitt Street opened in November 2008 under the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange. The parish describes the site and its mission on its website.
The wider metal-theft picture is regional, not proof of a local trend
Other Southern California cases show that metal theft can target infrastructure as well as institutional property, but they do not establish that the Santa Ana suspects are connected to other crimes. KTLA reported that investigators in unincorporated Ventura County linked a separate series of thefts between March and July to repeated attacks on copper communication lines. That case involved utility wiring rather than a religious statue.
Los Angeles Magazine reported 6,842 metal-theft cases in Los Angeles during 2023, producing more than $17 million in damages and repairs. That regional figure provides scale for the broader problem but does not measure statue thefts, describe Santa Ana, or show that metal theft is increasing locally.
Comparisons with Santa Ana crime data also require care. The City of Santa Ana says its police department changed from the Summary crime-reporting model to the California Incident-Based Reporting System in August 2022, meaning comparisons across reporting periods may not be straightforward.
Police seek information
Detectives are asking anyone who recognizes the men or has information about the vehicle or statue’s whereabouts to contact Detective R. Wilson at (714) 245-8551 or [email protected]. The circumstances of the theft, the suspects’ identities and whether the statue was sold or otherwise disposed of remain unknown.
