Dallas pastor accused in burglary of east Oak Cliff home

08:49 AM CST on Sunday, December 26, 2010 

IAN McCANN / The Dallas Morning News

A southern Dallas pastor and estranged member of a politically active family spent much of Christmas in jail after being accused of breaking into an east Oak Cliff home.

Police and jail records listed the woman arrested as Kathy Robinson, but Charles McGriff said Saturday that the jail mug shot of the arrested woman was of his sister-in-law, Sandra McGriff. She is charged with burglary of a habitation and resisting arrest.

Her husband, Weldon, is a brother of Bishop Larry McGriff, a clergyman who was active in local politics and interfaith work until his death in February. Larry McGriff was leader of Church of the Living God, on East Overton Road near Lancaster Road.

Neither Sandra McGriff nor Weldon McGriff could be reached for comment. She was released Saturday evening from the Dallas County Jail on bail totaling $26,000.

Police accuse Sandra McGriff of stealing more than $10,000 worth of clothing, purses and electronics from a home in the 2200 block of Village Way near Kiest Boulevard and Lancaster Road.

After a neighbor called police about the burglary about 5:30 p.m. Friday, officers arrived and found a broken kitchen window and saw McGriff carrying two fur coats out a back door of the home.

They also saw a laptop computer and three purses in the back seat of her blue Jaguar.

McGriff told officers that a friend had sent her to pick up her coats and that her arm was injured because she could not find a key under the doormat and had to break in through the window.

Police called the resident, Serita Agnew, who told them she had not given anyone permission to go into her house or take her property.

She also said that McGriff had called her to talk about an hour before the burglary was reported. During that conversation, Agnew told McGriff she was away from home visiting her daughter.

After McGriff was treated for the injured arm, officers struggled to arrest her. She slipped out of one set of handcuffs and resisted being restrained.

She slipped a second set of handcuffs off while waiting in a police car, and kicked and tried to scratch officers as they again restrained her.

Her brother-in-law, Charles McGriff, said his family's relationship with Sandra and Weldon McGriff had been strained for months as they had disagreements over how best to lead a church. Sandra and Weldon McGriff went on to start a new Church of the Living God, on Lancaster Road north of Kiest Boulevard.

"When my sister died in September ... [Weldon] didn't go to her funeral," Charles McGriff said.

Charles McGriff said he'd always known the woman as Sandy McGriff, not Kathy Robinson.

"We just don't know much about Sandy," he said. "We've always wondered where this woman came from."

On Saturday, the woman whose home was burglarized said she had mixed feelings about the incident because McGriff was her pastor. Agnew had known McGriff and her husband for about 10 years before joining their church.

"She really seemed to be this woman who had a connection with God," she said. "I still really can't believe it."

LINK TO VIDEO OF PASTOR

www.dallasnews.com/video/index.html?bcid=726291517001