Nov. 08--A man who served as an altar boy in a South Side church has been charged with robbing its elderly pastor in 2011 and beating him with a holy water sprinkler, authorities said.
Milek Harris, 22, of the 800 block of Gardner Road in Flossmoor, is charged with aggravated battery of a victim over the age of 60, home invasion with a dangerous weapon and armed robbery, all felonies, according to police.
Harris was ordered held without bail on Friday, according to Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Lorraine Scaduto.
Authorities say Harris and his half-brother broke into the rectory of St. Margaret of Scotland Church at 9837 S. Throop St. and beat the Rev. Daniel Mallette on Dec. 6, 2011. Milek Harris had served as an altar boy there, Scaduto said.
Harris' half-brother, Jerrell Harris, 21, was charged earlier this year with aggravated battery, home invasion and robbery in the attack. Jerrell Harris was ordered held on $500,000 bail and is awaiting trial.
According to Scaduto, Milek Harris stole $300 from the priest's bedroom safe and then the two suspects dragged Mallette to the basement of the rectory, where they ordered the priest to open a larger safe and stole an additional $600.
Mallette was struck in the head with a cane and the holy water sprinkler, causing lacerations to the priest's forehead and eyebrow that required stitches, prosecutors said. He also suffered two broken ribs.
The half-brothers poured bleach inside the church as they walked through it, hoping to get rid of evidence, prosecutors said. A security alarm went off as the intruders walked through the church, they said.
During the attack, Milek Harris asked Mallette to pray for him. And as they left, both men asked the priest if he wanted them to call for an ambulance.
Jerrell Harris then ripped the phone from the wall and told his half-brother that summoning an ambulance would get them caught, Scaduto said.
Later that year, Milek Harris was convicted of a separate armed robbery and a vehicular invasion case, and is serving a six-year sentence.
Jerrell Harris, of the 1300 block of West 97th Street, was paroled from Pinkneyville Correctional Center on the invasion case.
