A 44-year-old man with a history of burglary was charged Friday with breaking into a church in Huntington Beach.
Huntington Beach police arrested Juan Carlos Montiel Wednesday on suspicion of burglarizing First Christian Church at 1207 Main St., according to Corbin Carson, a spokesman for the Huntington Beach Police Department. A church employee confronted the suspect early Aug. 17.
The suspect appeared to be an electrician with tools who said he was responding to a power outage in the area, Carson said. The church employee was suspicious because the power was not out and had him leave the property.
Evidence at the break-in and surveillance video aided investigators in determining a suspect in the burglary, Carson said, adding that Montiel is suspected in church burglaries in Fountain Valley and Los Angeles.
Montiel is charged with a felony count of second-degree burglary. He pleaded not guilty Friday at his arraignment and was next due in court Oct. 20 in the North Justice Center in Fullerton.
Montiel has a lengthy history of burglary convictions dating back to 2007, according to court records.
Montiel was out on bail in an identity theft case when he failed to appear in court in September and a warrant was issued for his arrest, according to court records.
Montiel pleaded guilty in August 2021 to burglarizing the First Evangelical Free Church in Brea and the Sarang Community Church in Anaheim, according to court records. He also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor counts of grand theft by employee and fraud in a case out of the city of Orange and to a felony count of burglary and misdemeanor possession of burglary tools in a case out of Anaheim.
Montiel pleaded guilty to felony burglary in July 2008 and was sentenced to three years in prison, according to court records.