Las Vegas Reverend George Chaanine Sought in Assault of Church Worker (UPDATE: Arrested)

Reverend George Chaanine is considered a person of interest in the sexual assault of a church worker at Our Lady of Las Vegas Catholic Church.  Police are presently looking for Chaanine who they believe is driving a cream-colored Buick LeSabre.

LAS VEGAS –   Police were searching for a Catholic priest they believe may have sexually assaulted and struck a woman at a church.

Authorities said they were called to Our Lady of Las Vegas Catholic Church on Friday evening by someone who heard a woman in the church cry for help.

Officers found a church employee who said she had been assaulted and hit in the head with an object by a priest. Investigators consider the Rev. George Chaanine a person of interest, police spokesman Bill Cassell said. (Fox News)

 Vegas priest sought in assault of woman

Police were searching for a Catholic priest they believe may have sexually assaulted and struck a woman at a church.

UPDATE I: Priest Suspected in Attack Arrested

Reverand George Chaanine, 52, was arrested on Thursday in Apache Junction, AZ.

A hearing was set for Tuesday. He is wanted in Las Vegas on charges of attempted murder, sexual assault, kidnapping and battery with a deadly weapon in the Jan. 26 incident.

Chaanine is being held in a Phoenix jail on a $1 million bond on a charge of being a fugitive from justice. FBI Special Agent David Staretz said a federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution would be dropped so Chaanine could be extradited to Las Vegas to face the more serious Nevada charges.

The priest had been in Monterey, Calif., on Tuesday, where bank security videotape released Thursday by police showed Chaanine making a withdrawal from a Bank of America branch. Court documents said he withdrew a large amount of money but didn’t specify how much.