Three of four men held after a church was broken into and more than $600,000 worth of items stolen, two Saturdays ago, have been charged.

The men, who fled leaving the stolen items after they were accosted by police, were held following intense investigations by lawmen into the robbery.

They are Rohan Dixon, 47, a security guard from Spalding Hill district in Clarendon; Orlando Wilson, 31, a technician, from Albert Town, Trelawny and Meandre Vassell, 24, an electrician from Parry Town and Bellefield in St Mary.

Dixon is charged with conspiracy and sacrilege; while Wilson and Vassell are charged with simple larceny and sacrilege. They will appear in the Mandeville Parish Court on Wednesday, November 16, 2022.

It was reported that between 9:45 pm and 12:30 am, the Spalding New Testament Church in Clarendon was broken into. The police said six speaker boxes, eight LED lights and a case of tissue, valued at $660,000, were stolen.

Police said shortly after the robbery, the men were travelling along the main road in Spalding when they saw a police patrol, and diverted onto another church compound and fled, leaving the car with the stolen items.

The police seized the car and recovered the stolen items. Hours later, about 5 am, two of the men were picked up in the town of Spalding.

One of the two men was the owner of the seized car and was found with a remote control for the vehicle. The other two men were picked up after further investigations, but one was subsequently released.