Mississippi Man Admits to Robbing 18 Churches, Faces Over 200 Years in Prison
A Mississippi man, who was apprehended by authorities for his connection to a church robbery, has admitted to 18 church related crimes in four counties.
Roderick Zamora, 24, could potentially face 252 years in prison if convicted on the commercial burglary charges. The robber, who is currently on probation due to a 2009 church burglary, reportedly said he committed his recent crimes to help with fees stemming from his previous case, WDAM news reported.
The Jones County Sheriff’s Department said Zamora gained between $1,100 and $2,100 cash from 18 churches in Jones, Forrest, Perry and Lamar counties over a six month time period.
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However, the amount of money stolen may be more than the department initially assessed, said Major Don Scott in a WDAM TV report.
"That figure I feel sure is going to increase tremendously," Scott said.
Zamora was finally apprehended on Tuesday, just one day after triggering an alarm at the New Testament Church that he attempted to rob in the city of Laurel, located in Jones County. Trey Hicks, the grandson of the church’s pastor, took down Zamora’s license plate number which aided in his capture.
"I looked and saw some lights go through the window, and I went to the window and saw the car pull up and cut the lights off and he sat inside the car for about ten minutes," Hicks said. "We went outside to shine the lights up on the car, and that's when we heard the alarm go off, so he ran to his car."
The authorities were able to trace the robber’s car back to his mother’s home after reading Hicks’ report. However, it was Zamora that admitted to police that he was connected to the other robberies.
Sergeant Jamie Tedford, told WDAM TV that the robber confessed to his crimes in a three-hour interview with the police.
"It was almost like, once you started it was almost like he wanted to take and kind of get it off his chest,” Tedford said. "And whenever you start interviewing like that, you keep going until you get as much as you can get."
