Dallas pastor accused of burglarizing parishioner’s home maintains innocence

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DALLAS — The Dallas pastor facing charges of burglarizing a parishioner’s home on Christmas Eve says she had no criminal intent.

Sandy McGriff, 52, said Monday that she had seen two men on the side of the Serita Agnew’s home in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas on Friday. When she went to check it out, she said she saw a broken kitchen window.

McGriff said she made a foolish mistake and went in through the window to make sure Agnew’s belongings were secure.

“I used poor judgment,” McGriff said from her house in Grand Prairie, Texas.

One of Agnew’s neighbors called police, and when officers arrived, they found McGriff carrying out two fur coats. Agnew’s laptop computer and several purses were in McGriff’s Jaguar, parked in the driveway.

McGriff said she was trying to protect valuables in case the men came back.

“I thought I was helping,” she said.

McGriff is charged with burglary of a habitation and resisting arrest. She was released from the Dallas County Jail Saturday on bail totaling $26,000.

McGriff and her husband, Weldon McGriff, started one of the Dallas locations of the Church of the Living God.

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