The Brief
- Nicole Serdynski and Roberto Strong are charged with breaking into a locked prayer candle donation box at the Basilica of St. Josaphat.
- Church staff identified the pair—who had previously been banned for aggressive panhandling—via surveillance video that captured the break-in.
- Serdynski claimed she stole the money to buy food, while Strong admitted the crime but called it “dumb” because he knew cameras were present.
MILWAUKEE – A Milwaukee man and woman are accused of breaking into a prayer donation box at the Basilica of St. Josaphat and stealing the money inside that box. The accused are 35-year-old Nicole Serdynski and 43-year-old Roberto Strong. They each face the following criminal counts:
- Criminal damage to religious property
- Theft (value not exceeding $2,500)
Prayer donation box broken into
What we know:
According to the criminal complaint, a Basilica of St. Josaphat employee noticed on Tuesday, Jan. 27, that a “locked prayer candle donation box had been broken, and the donation money removed.” That employee and a security manager reviewed the video within the chapel and “observed two known subjects, one man and one woman, breaking into the locked prayer box and taking the money,” the complaint says. It was reported that the two individuals in the video frequently came to the church and “aggressively panhandled from parishioners,” the complaint says. The two were “advised they were not welcome back to the Basilica, and they were given a trespassing warning on January 7,” the complaint says.
Investigating officers showed Basilica employees a photo array, and they positively identified Strong “as the man in the video assisting in breaking the prayer donation box and taking money,” the complaint says. Serdynski was also identified through the video and photo array.
Statements from the accused
What they’re saying:…