On March 18, 2018, at the request of the District Prosecutor’s Office in Jelenia Góra, the Jelenia Góra District Court ordered the temporary detention for two months of Patrycja S., who is suspected of committing a burglary at the Church of St. Maximilian Kolbe in Szklarska Poręba during the night of March 16–17, 2018, as well as of “causing a direct danger of an event threatening property on a large scale in the form of a fire, and publicly offending the religious feelings of other people.”
The 26-year-old woman entered the church building through a window in the sacristy that she had smashed. After searching the interior, she took a rosary and a lamb figurine. She then removed consecrated wafers from the tabernacle, partially destroying them, and lit candles taken from the altar, placing them, among other places, beneath one of the pews and causing it to catch fire.
Thanks to surveillance footage, the Police Commissariat in Szklarska Poręba was notified of the incident. After arriving at the scene and opening the church doors, officers called the fire service and arrested the woman, who was still inside the church. (She had attempted to hide beneath one of the pews.)
An inspection of the scene was conducted, witnesses were questioned, and a preliminary expert opinion in the field of fire protection was obtained.
After Patrycja S. was brought to the District Prosecutor’s Office in Jelenia Góra, she was formally charged. The suspect pleaded not guilty.
During the proceedings, it was established, among other things, that the woman has no permanent place of residence, raising concerns that she might unlawfully obstruct the criminal proceedings by fleeing or hiding from law enforcement authorities.
S. has previously been convicted of property crimes. She now faces up to 10 years in prison.