As he was preaching on maintaining faith in the face of severe suffering at his Brooklyn church service on Sunday, armed robbers stole more than $1 million worth of jewelry from a pastor known for his close friendship with New York City’s mayor, according to police. Oh, and by the way, it was all captured online during their streaming service.
Bishop Lamor Miller-Whitehead, who enjoys living the high life and frequently drives about New York City in his Rolls Royce, was preaching at his Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries when, according to the police, three burglars entered. According to the authorities, they displayed firearms and made demands on Miller-Whitehead and his wife, Asia K. DosReis-Whitehead.
Miller-Whitehead is heard addressing his congregation in the video, which appears to have been taken down from the church’s social media accounts, “How many of you have lost your faith because you saw somebody else die?” just before the robbers entered the church.
#Breakingnews
This morning , Gun point robbery took place a church at 922 Remsen Avenue in Brooklyn NY , they robbed jewelry from the church goers including the pastor and fled in a Benz. The NYPD is investigating this at the moment #Newsnight #weekend #Church pic.twitter.com/8rZf8jyDUl— Viral News NY (@ViralNewsNYC) July 24, 2022
Then, as a man with a rifle and a black sweatshirt approaches the picture, he is seen getting down on his hands and knees and repeating, “alright, alright.” Then Miller-Whitehead, who was hiding behind a gold-colored lectern, is seen being approached by the man, who was also wearing a black face mask. The man is then seen shoving the bishop’s valuables into his pockets.
Then a second individual is seen approaching Miller-Whitehead while wearing a similar outfit, hanging around him for a short while, and then vanishing. In a video uploaded to Instagram, Miller-Whitehead said that the assailants held a gun to the face of his young daughter while robbing his wife of her valuables and ripping off his collar to get his chain.
According to police, the robbers escaped in a white Mercedes that was last spotted in Brooklyn’s Canarsie district on Avenue D, close to the church. According to investigators, neither Miller-Whitehead, 44, nor DosReis-Whitehead, 38, suffered any physical harm. Their daughter sustained no injuries.
The shooters “intended to shoot the church up or if they were simply coming for a heist,” Miller-Whitehead claimed in a video he shared to Instagram. He also claimed to have sensed a “demonic force” enter the church. He expressed gratitude that nobody was wounded.
Whitehead, who on Monday offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the thieves, said: “When I see them coming into the sanctuary with their firearms, I told everybody to get out, everybody just get out.”
In 2013, Miller-Whitehead, 44, founded Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries after completing a five-year jail term for grand larceny and identity fraud. Miller-Whitehead contends that his conviction was erroneous.
Miller-Whitehead spoke with New York Mayor Eric Adams following the heist on Sunday, according to a representative for city hall.
Adams said in a statement that “no one in this community should be the victim of an armed robbery, let alone our spiritual leaders and congregations worshiping in a House of God.” The NYPD is looking into this crime and will spare no effort to prosecute those responsible.
The mayor’s support was acknowledged by Miller-Whitehead in a video that was uploaded to YouTube on Monday. The church services on Easter Sunday will go as scheduled, he declared.
While serving as Brooklyn’s borough president, a job he held for eight years until becoming mayor in January, Adams, a former police captain, got to know Miller-Whitehead well. Last year, Miller-Whitehead launched an unsuccessful attempt to unseat Adams from that position.
When Miller-Whitehead arrived at a Manhattan police station in a Rolls Royce SUV in May to try to negotiate the surrender of a suspect in the shooting death of a stranger on a New York City subway train, he made headlines.
When it came to Andrew Abdullah’s surrender, Miller-Whitehead claimed to have had “several talks” with Adams. However, the suspect was ultimately apprehended by law enforcement outside the offices of the public defender organization that was representing him.
Miller-Whitehead defended his love of bling in an Instagram post on Sunday, writing that he’s “going to live his life the way God has it set up for him.”
Not being flashy isn’t the point, according to Miller-Whitehead. “It’s about me buying the things I want to buy. Additionally, I have the right to buy whatever I choose.