Four people were arrested for attempting to steal copper from a church Wednesday afternoon.

Police responding to calls from neighbors about suspicious activity at Oak Street United Methodist Church, in the city's South Park neighborhood, found two suspects trying to hide on the roof of the church at Oak and Bonner streets.

“Apparently two of the individuals stayed on the roof and wouldn’t come down so we had to call a fire apparatus in,” said Dayton Lt. David Wolford. Two other suspects were found walking away from the scene, he said.

Tommy J. Johnson, 35; Ronnie Lee White Jr., 41; Kerry A. Smith, 34; and Kelly Renee Welch, 38, were all booked into the Montgomery County Jail on possible breaking and entering charges.

Smith also had an outstanding warrant for a misdemeanor theft charge. They are schedules to appear in court on Thursday. No bail has been set for any of the accused.

Wolford said there is extensive damage to the roof of the church, but he did not have a dollar estimate.

Neighbor Carol Loyd said this is the second time thieves have targeted the church for its precious metal. She said the air conditioner had to be replaced recently because the old one was stolen.

“I think it’s dead wrong, especially on a church,” she said.

It turns out the suspects may have committed another theft in order to procure a means of getting on the roof.

Ron DuMoulin lives on Clover Street several blocks from the church and said firefighters found his missing ladder on the roof.

DuMoulin said he noticed the 16-foot, wooden ladder was missing from his yard several hours before police were called to the church. He was walking around the neighborhood in search of it when he saw the commotion at the church.

"I asked if anyone came across a 16-foot ladder and they said 'Yeah the firefighters are bringing it down off the roof'," he said.  Police also found a dolly they think belonged to the suspects that was likely to be used for hauling away the metal.

Wolford said metal thefts continue to be a problem for local law enforcement. “Great job by the citizens calling it in. If you see something like this call it in,” he said, offering a word of advice.

“It’s pretty brazen, but when it comes to metal theft, right now they don’t care. They are going into vacant houses, taking air conditioning units right out of windows,” Wolford said.