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Oct 23, 2007 7:34 pm US/Eastern
Outrage: Drug Deal Inside Bronx Church
Officials Blame NYPD For Not Cleaning Up Community
BRONX (CBS) ―
Parishioners at a church in the Bronx are expressing outrage and disbelief after two men allegedly were dealing drugs during mass.
As church bells clanged outside Our Lady of Refuge on Tuesday, Father John Jenik struggled to make sense of a senseless act.
"It is an abomination," Jenik said. "Dealing drugs does not belong inside of a church."
The incident happened during mass Saturday night. Jenik said a church usher spotted three men standing in a vestibule.
"He opened the doors and when he opened the door he saw the guy had his hand out, and it was an exchange of money and the guy was taking something," Jenik said. "He said it looked like an envelope."
The men ran away and were never apprehended.
But the problem is not inside the church, according to Father Jenik, it's on the streets outside of it.
He said the neighborhood is filled with drug dealers.
"The drug dealers, there's a group that sells right here on the left hand side," Jenik said. "There's another group that sells down the block there."
Some neighbors say they're disgusted that drug dealers had penetrated the sanctity of a church.
"They walk up and down here like they own the neighborhood," neighborhood resident Barry Chalmers said. "You know what? So this was their last bastion that they hadn't touched."
Police say crime in this precinct has fallen almost 20 percent in the last six years, but Jenik has been waging a bitter battle against a police department that he says has been deaf to his complaints.
"If you leave a message they might get back to you," Jenik said. "They've never gotten back to me."
NYPD brass say Jenik has repeatedly rebuffed their help. Several detectives arrived at the church during CBS 2 HD's visit on Tuesday.
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