NEW ORLEANS, La. (WWL) – As a Catholic priest in New Orleans was giving Mass on Christmas Eve, the golf cart he uses to get around his church was stolen.
WWL-TV's Katie Moore reports a friend gave Father Michael Joseph Nguyen the golf cart since he was having a tough time getting around.
Parishioners said Nguyen, who often rides the cart around the grounds of the Resurrection of Our Lord Church in New Orleans, even lets members of the youth choir ride in it after Mass.
"I just park the golf cart in front of the church and I can see it from my chair," Nguyen said.
On Christmas Eve Nguyen parked it in its usual spot with the keys in the unit.
At some point during the 7 p.m. Mass, a parishioner leaving the church spotted two young Vietnamese men driving off in the cart.
The device was last spotted at the intersection of Read and Bullard by another remember of the Vietnamese community who said the cart was being towed away by a tow truck.
"I didn't see any problem, didn't anticipate that somebody would come for Mass and during the Mass, you know, would steal the golf cart," Nguyen said.
Nguyen said the cart had stains on the seat from where kids sprayed silly string on the cart and a special towing hitch to carry things around in a little train during events.
Plus, there was a priceless memento on the cart, too.
"I have a Louisville, Kentucky slugger. I kept that in my office for seven years," Nguyen said/ "And I say, 'This is my souvenir from Katrina.' And that day for some reason, I put it on the back of my golf cart – and it's gone."
So far police have had no leads about which towing company may have picked up the cart or where it might be.
