Praying Robber Turns Himself in Indianapolis

In an unusual twist, Gregory Smith's prayers may just well have been answered when he entered an Advance America Monday afternoon and held up cashier Angela Montez. Montez claims she began to cry when she realized Smith's intention to rob the Advance America and she began to talk to him about God. Then, he asked her to pray with him. After praying together, Smith, 23, took Montez's cell phone, removed $20 from the cash drawer and asked her to wait 20 minutes in the restroom before calling police.

According to Lt. Jeff Duhammell of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, Smith turned himself in later that evening. Smith's mother watched a newscast where Smith was clearly shown on the surveillance video. She urged Smith to turn himself in and he complied.

This morning, Heather McWilliams of Fox 59 Indianapolis interviewed Gregory Smith. According to the report, Smith had been "unemployed, depressed and suicidal" for the past year and was desperate to support his family. On his birthday, one week prior to the Advance America robbery, he walked into a payday loan facility and robbed it at gunpoint. Then on Monday, upon entering Advance America, he came face to face with Angela Montez and God.

Smith claimed he had been asking himself for what reason he was here on this earth. When Montez began praying and talking about her own grandchildren, Smith said he began to think about his daughter. Smith stated, "God put the right person there at the right time," referring to Montez, the evangelizing cashier.

Smith is being charge with eight felony counts, including armed robbery and criminal confinement. The praying robber, as he has come to be known, told McWilliams that "everything happens for a reason." From a jail cell and wearing an orange jumpsuit, he advised others who might be considering the choice of criminal activity out of desperation to "keep the faith" and know that somehow things will work out.

According to Smith, he knows what he did was wrong and he knows his future will be difficult. He said that he is "trying to build his relationship with God right now." Once again, we are shown that God truly does work in mysterious ways. As this writer has written before, there is always hope.

To watch the video of the Fox 59 interview of the praying robber, Gregory Smith, click here.

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Fox 59 News Interview