A 78-year-old woman was the victim of a modus operandi conducted by two women inside the sanctuary of the Hilldale Baptist Church in Clarksville, Tennessee last February 9.
The entire incident was caught on the church's surveillance camera, Church Leaders reported. The video was uploaded in YouTube by Clarksville Police Department Public Information Officer Scott Beaubien.
According to Beaubien's video notes, the Clarksville Police Department is investigating the incident that approximately happened at 6:00 pm. Two Black females approached the elderly woman and had a short conversation with her. One of the females requested the elderly woman to pray with her, all the while the other female was robbing her. The victim's name was not disclosed and her face was particularly hidden by a white blur in the uploaded video.
The footage showed that the elderly woman was seated alone in the pew before the female on the pew in front of her looked back and chatted with her. The female then stood and went up to her, took her hand, and prayed with her. The other female, who was seated alone at the pew behind the elderly woman, could be seen rummaging through the latter's purse while the praying session was happening.
The other female took the elderly woman's wallet and put it in her bag. She also took the credit cards from the purse and closed it casually. She then returned it beside the woman while touching the latter's back in a pretense of praying for her. When she has successfully returned the purse, the female holding the elderly woman's hands released it and returned to her seat in front. The elderly woman then thanked the female behind her for praying with them before the footage ended.
The Clarksville Police Department disclosed last Friday, February 18, that the two females had two other female companions with them in the church before they left to immediately use the elderly woman's credit cards in a nearby establishment.
"There were a total of four (4) females together at Hilldale Baptist Church and you can see three (3) of them exit Sam's Club after they used the victim's credit card shortly after the theft. The Clarksville Police Department is asking for the public's assistance in identifying these female suspects," the law enforcement agency said.
The incident was announced that same night by Hilldale Baptist Church Pastor Larry Robertson to the congregation gathered for the Bible Study that the elderly woman came for. Robertson disclosed that he encountered the two female suspects that evening and directed them to the sanctuary since they were early for the event.
Robertson was attending another ministry engagement at that time and intended to see the two female suspects afterward. The elderly woman regularly comes early for the Bible study and was at the sanctuary when the two females arrived.
Pastor Robertson said the elderly woman noticed the missing contents of her purse after the two females left the sanctuary. She then went to Robertson who assisted her, causing the Bible study to start late.
In the video of the Bible study, the pastor apologized for the late service and expressed his anger at what happened to the elderly woman. He then quoted from the Bible that vengeance is the Lord's before narrating what happened that night.
"And she just thought the best of these girls, as anybody would, and counted it an honor to pray with them. But I want to pray that the Lord will awaken something in these young ladies, and realize the error of their ways, and ultimately come to Christ," Robertson said.
"The reality is that there's not much the police can do at this point. But if they use one of those credit cards, it becomes a felony. It's currently a misdemeanor, but it becomes a felony (if they use a stolen credit card), and things would get very serious at that point. But we want to pray for that situation; pray for those individuals," he added.
