Wed Oct 21, 2009WASHINGTON (AFP) – A repentant robber fell to his knees and prayed with the clerk of the store during a hold-up, according to US media Wednesday, which said the man nevertheless proceeded to pinch 20 dollars from the cash register.
The 23-year-old initially entered the check-cashing establishment in the midwestern city of Indianapolis, Indiana seeking a loan but left, purportedly to get an identification card that was requested, law enforcement officials told ABC television.
He returned armed with a gun, which he pointed at the employee, telling her that he had a son to feed and "no choice" but to revert to robbery since "times are hard," according to the report of the heist.
But when the clerk started to talk to the man about God, the gunman appeared to have a change of heart, confiding in the clerk about his hardships and asking her to pray with him."I started crying and praying and telling him, 'Don't do this,' he was too young to throw away his life," store clerk Angela Montez later told a police dispatcher by phone.
"He took the bullet out of the gun and said, 'Here, I'm not going to hurt you, I'm not going to hurt you,'" Montez said.
The suspect, Gregory Smith,
asked Montez for a hug and asked her not to report the crime, then told her to go into the store's restroom and not come out for 20 minutes, police told ABC.
Officials said Smith took Montez's cell phone from her purse and 20 dollars from the cash drawer,
leaving the rest of the money behind.
He was arrested on robbery and firearm charges when
he turned himself in to authorities a few hours later.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091021/ts_alt_afp/uscrimereligionoffbeatprayer
