Cops: Convent burglaries under investigation

Police are investigating a string of burglaries at convents in Grays Ferry and North Philadelphia, which occurred between Oct.  9 and Oct. 18.

The most recent pair of blasphemous burglaries both unfolded at the convent of St. Gabriel Parish on 29th Street near Dickinson in Grays Ferry, police said.

A burglar stole $150 from a nun's purse as she slept in the convent around 1:45 a.m. on Wednesday, said Officer Christine O'Brien, a police department spokeswoman. The suspect crept away while the nun continued sleeping, cops said.

A burglar struck the convent again Thursday around 3:30 a.m. — this time swiping a set of keys from a file cabinet, cops said. The burglar tripped a motion sensor on the first floor, set off an alarm and fled the scene before police arrived. The convent has no surveillance system, and a description of the suspect was not available.

On the morning of Oct. 10, a nun at St. Hugh Parish, on Mascher Street near Tioga in North Philadelphia, discovered that the convent was burglarized overnight. The nun walked down the stairs to the first floor and found a window and front door that were left open, police said. The suspect stole a laptop and a DVD player.

Police don't believe the incidents are connected, but said each burglar slinked into the convents through an unlocked window.