Man robs Baltimore pastor and secretary at gunpoint, steals thousands

Published: 2003-10-16

BALTIMORE (CNS) -- An armed man robbed the Shrine of the Little Flower Church in Baltimore of more than $7,000 the morning of Oct. 13, according to the pastor, Father Michael J. Orchik. According to an account he gave The Catholic Review, Baltimore's archdiocesan newspaper, the robbery took place when a man came to the rectory door inquiring about the parish school and the possibility of donating clothing. He then forced his way in with a gun, reportedly took $400 in petty cash and then demanded that the pastor open the safe. Frustrated when the priest couldn't open it quickly enough, the robber reportedly smacked the 63-year-old pastor on the side of the head and pointed the gun at the parish secretary saying, "You better hurry up or she's going to get it." Before he left, the gunman told the pastor, the secretary and an elderly cleaning woman to stay put. The priest described the robber to the police as a stocky, 5-foot-11-inch African-American male who had facial hair and wore glasses.

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