# @downinnadesert on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/Dc7afuPkjrO
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/70021142-downinnadesert-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/4ca9e1593c.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-09-06T02:00:02.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Down In The Desert🌵 (@downinnadesert) — https://gondola.cc/downinnadesert

## Caption

A 23-year-old Mesa man is facing felony charges after Tempe police say he broke into a church student center, caused about $10,000 in damage and stole a PlayStation 5 belonging to the youth group.

According to the Tempe Police Department, the break-in happened around 1:45 a.m. on August 21 at Grace Community Church, near Southern Avenue and Rural Road. Investigators say a man used a crowbar or tire iron to force his way inside. Surveillance video appears to show him breaking a glass door and reaching through to unlock it, then destroying a computer and damaging instruments. Police say televisions, screens, sound equipment, walls, doors and a waterline were also damaged, and the broken waterline flooded the kitchen. About $2,000 in electronics was stolen.

Church security cameras captured both the suspect and his vehicle. The Tempe Police Department’s Real-Time Operations Center then tracked the car through city street cameras as it left the area, and that footage shows the vehicle losing a tire near the Tempe-Mesa border.

That detail is what connected the case. About 30 minutes after the break-in was reported, the car turned up in Mesa. According to court documents, the driver told a bystander he had just assaulted a pastor at a church because the pastor had made his cousin uncomfortable. When Mesa police arrived, they found a man wearing clothing matching the church surveillance footage with fresh cuts on his hands and arms, but found no probable cause to arrest him at that time.

Tempe investigators later identified Erick Encinas as the suspect. On September 1, the department’s Criminal Apprehension and Surveillance Team served a search warrant at his Mesa apartment, recovering his vehicle, stolen property, a lanyard and clothing matching the surveillance footage.

Encinas was arrested Tuesday and booked into Tempe City Jail on charges of burglary and aggravated criminal damage. He has not been convicted.

Via: FOX 10 Phoenix

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#Tempe #Mesa #Phoenix #Arizona #ArizonaNews DownInnaDesert

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## Tags

arizonanews, tempe, mesa, arizona, phoenix

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