Police say man took hatchet to church, car

Police arrested a man Saturday after they say he took a hatchet to a church and a car in Colorado Springs.

CSPD says Austin Gelsinger, 31, used his hatchet on a parked car on Austin Bluffs Parkway near Barnes Road, breaking every window and causing about $2,000 worth of damage to the front of the car. That was at around 7:45 p.m.

Officers said next, at around 8:00 p.m., Gelsinger broke into Holy Cross Lutheran Church at 4125 Constitution Avenue. Police said the found Gelsinger inside the church and arrested him on charges of second-degree burglary and felony criminal mischief.

Church Associate Pastor Dave Hall says, “We live in a world that is messed up, lot of broken people. Whoever did this is not in their right mind.”

Hall says there was significant damage to the church including: glass doors and windows broken, TV’s smashed in and walls torn up.

“It looked like a war zone … glass everywhere, blood in places,” said TJ Nunley who helped cleanup.