A flashy New York pastor was robbed during a live streaming service. The thieves got away with $400,000 worth of jewels. The robbery took place in the middle of a livestreamed service on Sunday. The thieves approached the pastor at the podium and got away with the jewels, cops said.
The luxury car driving pastor, Bishop Lamor Whitehead, made news last May after he attempted to negotiate the surrender of an accused shooter, who the police later grabbed.
At the Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries in Canarsie, on Sunday around 11:14 a.m., Whitehead was in the middle of his sermon when three masked gunmen barged in, police said.
“How many of you have lost your faith because you saw somebody else die?” Whitehead asked his congregation — right before spotting the armed intruders.
“All right, all right,” Whitehead said several times before hitting the floor on his hands and knees.
Whitehead, his wife, and possibly other churchgoers were robbed of $400,000 worth of jewelry, police said. At the time of the robbery, Whitehead was draped in a maroon suit with a gold-trimmed collar and sleeve cuffs and was wearing a long gold chain and a large ring on each finger.
Once the heist was done, the robbers fled East on Avenue D. A couple of months ago; Whitehead said he was attempting to negotiate the surrender of Andrew Abdullah, 25, in the slaying of Goldman Sachs employee Daniel Enriquez aboard a Manhattan-bound Q train.
Whitehead allegedly showed up at the Fifth Precinct in a Rolls-Royce to assist in the surrender; however, police grabbed Abdullah at the Legal Aid Society offices in Manhattan.