Less than three weeks after being lauded as a hero, the Rev. Canon Chester LaRue, rector of St. John's Church, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, was arrested at his rectory Jan. 17 and charged with felony drug possession.

In December, Fr. LaRue had been praised for routing two would-be burglars [TLC, Jan. 26] from his rectory. Ironically, his notifying the police of that incident led to his own arrest. One of the suspects was quoted in the New York Post as saying the "priest was just trying to protect his stash."

In a telephone interview at that time, Fr. LaRue had expressed chagrin at continuing burglary attempts - two break-ins in the last year and a half - and insisted "there is really nothing here to steal."

Acting on the suspect's information, the police began observing activities at the 140-year-old church, particularly frequent comings and goings of what turned out to be drug runners. Undercover officers reportedly bought drugs from Ruben Serrano, who also lived at the rectory.

According to three New York papers, Mr. Serrano, and his teen-aged girlfriend, were engaged in cooking and selling cocaine from the rectory, in what police described as a "fairly large-scale" operation. As Fr. LaRue worked on a sermon, police entered and found him and church custodian Thomas Miller smoking crack cocaine, while Mr. Serrano's pager was relaying customers' calls.

Fr. LaRue was quoted as saying he began to use cocaine a year ago to demonstrate to an addicted friend that breaking the habit was easy. He said that at first he used the drug once or twice a month. "To my surprise, I liked it," he said in a confession. But he lost control over the substance.

On Sunday morning, St. John's parishioners were asked by the Rev. Brian Hatt to pray for Fr. LaRue. According to one report, Fr. LaRue "has been temporarily stripped of his pastoral privileges."

Lt. Kevin Barry, commander of the 68th Precinct detective squad, said he felt a bit uncomfortable arresting a priest known for taking in former convicts. "He's like a Fr. Flanagan who went wrong," Lt. Barry said.

Diocesan spokesperson Melissa Krantz said the Diocese of Long Island was "cooperating with the district attorney's investigation."

A secretary at St. John's parish, reached by phone, said firmly, "We are going on as before. We have our Masses" conducted by an assistant priest.