Three Kent Youths Arrested for Chuang Yen Monastery Theft
Three Kent residents were arrested Wednesday for allegedly stealing from the donations boxes at Chuang Yen Monastery, Kent police reported.
Marissa Campanella, 18; Anthony Dannucci, 20; and Brian Colello, 19 each face charges of petit larceny, as police say the three Kent residents admitted to taking the money.
Officials at the monastery, located off Route 301 in Kent, became suspicious when they noticed a dramatic drop in cash donations, and on Tuesday they called police and reported donations had been significantly down for several months, police said.
Police reviewed surveillance video, which they said showed several individuals apparently taking money from the donation boxes, police said. They also obtained the license plate number of a vehicle they believed to be involved.
On Wednesday, detectives responded to the home of the vehicle’s registered owner and interviewed Campanella and Dannucci, who matched the description of the suspects identified on the surveillance video, police said. The pair was brought to the Kent Police Department, where they admitted to stealing the money, according to police. Further investigation led to the arrest of Colello, who police said also admitted to stealing money from the monastery.
The amount of money allegedly stolen is still unknown, police said.
