A 23-year-old Mesa man is facing felony charges after Tempe police say he broke into Grace Community Church’s student center overnight, causing roughly $10,000 in damage before fleeing in a car that later blew a tire near the Tempe-Mesa border. Erick Encinas was booked into Tempe city jail on burglary and aggravated criminal damage charges following a multi-agency investigation that stitched together church surveillance footage, city street cameras, and a roadside encounter with a stranger.
The break-in happened around 1:45 a.m. on August 21 at Grace Community Church, near Southern Avenue and Rural Road, according to FOX 10 Phoenix. Security video from the church captured the suspect using a crowbar to smash through a glass door before pushing over a computer, hitting a television screen, and banging on a drum set inside the student center, as reported by 12News. Investigators say Encinas fled with stolen electronics, including a PlayStation 5 belonging to the church’s youth group.
Grace Community Church, founded in 1967 at 1200 E. Southern Ave., runs youth, college, and community outreach programs out of its campus, according to the church’s own materials. The student center that was targeted serves as a hub for those programs, making the break-in a direct hit on the church’s outreach space rather than its main sanctuary.
Cameras and a Flat Tire Close the Net
Tempe’s Real-Time Operations Center, which launched in July 2024 to integrate feeds from city traffic, park, and facility cameras, allowed analysts to trace the suspect’s vehicle away from the church, according to the same account. That tracking effort came even as Tempe had turned off its Flock Safety automatic license plate reader cameras in late August after city council members raised privacy concerns, per KTAR News 92.3, leaving officers to lean on standard traffic and municipal cameras instead…