Mayfair Resident Arrested For Stealing Mausoleum Doors From Lower Moreland Cemetery
by Alex Lloyd Gross
Michael Evangelist of Mayfair was arrested for the theft of two doors from the Forest Hills Cemetery on Byberry Road in Lower Moreland, Montgomery County Pa. Police said the cemetery workers discovered the theft on February 3, 2025. The stolen doors were made of bronze with a thin glass window in the middle of each door, decorated with a wrought iron “fleur-de-lis” pattern. The doors were extremely heavy and valued at approximately $31,500 to replace.
According to police, Evangelist allegedly unscrewed the door hinges from the frame. He then cut up the doors into smaller pieces, to sell as scrap. He was found to have visited a scrap yard around the same time that the thefts happened in Bucks, Philadelphia and Delco, authorities said.
On February 2, 2025, Evangelist was recorded at the scrap location in Philadelphia scrapping large pieces of cut metal, including yellow brass mausoleum doors with a fleur-de-lis design and long straight cross frame pattern, matching the stolen doors from the Forest Hills Cemetery.
Police did not have to go far to find him, as he was lodged at the Bucks County Prison on unrelated burglary and theft charges from Bensalem. His bail was set at $5.000,000 on that case. His bail in the Lower Moreland case is $10,077. He has a long criminal history of stealing from cemeteries and traffic violations. His driving privileges have been suspended for sometime, according to court records.
Evangelist was removed from the Bucks County Prison and is now housed in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility.