Mosque in Ellington Burglarized

ELLINGTON, CT — A Vernon man allegedly broke into an Ellington based mosque and fled the house of worship with money donated by members, state police said. It was his second theft-related incident this fall, records show.

The burglary took place on Sept. 12, state police said. Joshua Pharham , 32, who lives at 133 West Main St., in the Rockville section of Vernon, was served the warrant while in custody, according to a warrant.

He now has seven pending cases in all after the mosque-related charges, according to judicial system records. He is in custody on bonds totaling $101,500, judicial system records show. He is due back in court for all his cases case on Nov. 13, according to judicial system records.

At 6:32 a.m. on Sept. 12, an official at Minhaj-ul-Quaran Al-Noor Islamic Center on West Road on the Ellington-Vernon line called state police to report a burglary. A rear door was broken into and cash boxes containing mosque donations and program fees were stolen, according to a warrant. The burglar left tools behind, according to a warrant.

Surveillance images show the burglar running through the women's area of the mosque earlier that morning, hiding in an office when authorized members came into the building and then sprinting out, according to a warrant.

He was later identified as Pharham, according to a warrant.

Pharham

His most recent arrest in Vernon was for a nighttime theft in Vernon on Sept. 23, according to a police report. For that incident, he was charged with first-degree burglary, second-degree criminal trespass and third-degree criminal mischief, according to a report.

He has drug-related charges, interfering charged and breach or peace charges in other cases, records show.

Photo Credit: Chris Dehnel (mosque); VPD (Pharham's booking mug shot)

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