Pastor and Omega Man Survives Attempt on Life
Pastor survives armed robberyOakland man prayed as thieves argued over killing him in his hills' home
By Harry Harris and Zuri Berry, STAFF WRITER ANDCORRESPONDENT OAKLAND - Greater St. Paul Baptist Church BishopJoseph E. Simmons never prayed as hard as when arobber pushed a gun against his head last week in hisOakland hills home and debated with his accompliceswhether to kill him. "I kept trying to talk to them," the 46-year-oldpastor said Tuesday. "I was fighting for my lifetrying to reason with them. "At this point, I started praying about it," he said."I was at peace. If it was God's time for me to gothen I was going to go." Maybe divine intervention did save Simmons because anoise in his neighbor's yard caused the robbers toleave in a panic, he said. They fled with his wallet,credit cards and thousands of dollars' worth ofjewelry. Among jewelry taken were the pastor's cross necklacesand his bishop's rings. The terrifying experience began about 8 p.m. Aug. 2 asSimmons drove up to his house below Skyline Boulevardafter a Bible study at his church, a 4,000-membercongregation at 1827 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. Before he could get out of his car, a masked man put agun to Simmons' head and the trio forced him insidethe house. Simmons was then tied up by the three suspects, whodemanded to know where a safe was and threatened himwith death until he convinced them he didn't have asafe. For the next couple of hours, the suspects rummagedthrough the house looking for valuables. Simmons, who has been with the church 10 years, toldthem he was a pastor. They demanded he show them hiswallet with identification, then took the wallet. Just before leaving with the different items, thesuspects draped a pillow case over Simmons' head. Asone man pressed a gun against Simmons' head, theyargued about who would kill him. But after a few minutes of not knowing whether hewould live or die, the suspects fled when they heardthe noise next-door. Simmons managed to untie himself and call police. He hasn't been home since theincident. On Sunday, he announced what happened to hiscongregation. He also is continuing to organize ananti-violence youth concert Friday. The pastor will be using the frightening reminder ofOakland crime during the event, which involves gettingchurch members on the streets. "The problem with the church is we're not in thecommunity," Simmons said. "When you can rob and kill apastor, something has died in the community." But Simmons also will have to do some mental adjustingbecause of the incident, and his congregation plans tohire a bodyguard for him. "I'm still a little shook up," he said. "Right now I'mafraid of the people who would do something like this,but I'm not afraid of the community. My initialreaction was I need to get out of here, but somethingwon't let me leave." Simmons cited the needs of the community for hisstaying. "It's just my belief is the police can't fix thisthing without the church," he said. "It's time for usto take our preaching to the street. I'm not talkingabout marching. I'm talking about praying on thestreets." At this point, police investigators do not believe therobbery is related to other home-invasion robberies inRockridge and Montclair, Sgt. George Phillips said.
Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering upto $20,000 in reward money for information leading to thearrest of the suspects. Anyone with information isasked to call police at 238-3326 or Crime Stoppers at238-6946.
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