CLEVELAND (WJW) — Video released to the Fox 8 I-Team shows Cleveland Police investigating the armed robbery of a 92-year-old woman just outside of her church.
One man has now been indicted for a half-dozen robberies including three outside of churches.
Police body camera video shows officers going to a church on the City’s southeast side. They met a 92-year-old woman who was robbed, with a Bible in her hand.
She told officers, “As I was getting ready to open the door, a gentleman ran into me. He just ran up. He didn’t say a word. He just grabbed my purse and my Bible. Held the gun, then he took off.”
Another woman at the church reacted by saying, “At a church. No respect.”
The victim told police the robber even knocked her to the ground.
Meantime, police video also shows officers meeting a woman held up outside of a different church.
She said, “I just got robbed.” She told police, the robber also forced her to go to an ATM to withdraw money.
She added, “He pulled out his gun, said, ‘Give me your money.’ I don’t have any money. I’m just going to church. Then he took the gun (and said), ‘I’m not playing with you. You about to die today for your money.’”
The video has now been released to the I-Team, but those cases happened in June.
A total of three women got robbed in separate cases outside of churches on Cleveland’s southeast side. Cleveland Police Fourth District detectives investigated.
They tied one man to all of the hold-ups at churches. In fact, that suspect now sits in jail.
Cuyahoga County Prosecutors have indicted 40-year-old LaDon Moore for a total of six robberies.
Last month, Cleveland ministers spoke out about a spike in gun violence, calling for more to be done about it. The ministers said some folks have become afraid to go to evening Bible studies.
The robbery of the 92-year-old with a Bible in her hand shows why.
After the indictment of LaDon Moore for the robberies, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael C. O’Malley released a statement.
It said, “This one man terrorized and inflicted fear throughout the Mount Pleasant neighborhood for a month. Innocent people, including women going to church, were targeted, held at gunpoint, and robbed. Hopefully, as we take the first steps towards justice today, the community can rest a little easier knowing this violent offender has been removed from their streets.”