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Walter Hand, 53, of Suffern, walked out of the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church on Lafayette Avenue on Friday, May 6, with a gold lunette, a device used to hold the host upright in a cross-shaped vessel during Mass, police said.
Police said that the theft was recorded on the church’s security camera, and Hand was subsequently identified and arrested.
The lunette was recovered, police said.
Hand, who police said has a long arrest record, now faces charges of third-degree burglary, fourth-degree grand larceny, third-degree criminal trespass, and fourth-degree possession of stolen property, police said.
Hand, who has two prior felony convictions, was held without bail at the Rockland County Jail, police said.
He is to appear in Suffern Justice Court on Thursday, May 12.
The investigation was led by Detective Anne Cawley, police said.
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