A 76-year-old woman was attacked and robbed on Sunday morning by two alleged muggers inside St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha, Nebraska .
One of the suspects ran off with the elderly woman’s purse and the other sucker-punched her in the head in the disturbing incident chillingly reminiscent of the so-called knockout game that was captured on surveillance video. See footage embedded below.
Omaha cops today arrested one suspect, age 22, on an outstanding warrant, while the other alleged assailant is still at large. The suspect’s mother was also taken into custody at the same time on a charge of harboring a fugitive. “According to the Omaha Police Department, officers with the gang unit recognized [the suspect] from surveillance video of the attack,” ABC News Omaha affiliate KETV explained.
An official with the Archdiocese of Omaha told KETV that many area churches are equipped with security cameras.
“One of two young men approached the 5-foot-6, 150-pound woman from behind and grabbed her purse before running out the door. The second attacker can be seen hitting the woman squarely on the side of her face, knocking her down. The woman hit her head on the side of the table as she fell,” Omaha.com reported .
The Rev. James Netusil, who was preparing for Mass in the church when the assault occurred, said yesterday that “Honestly, I saw the video for the first time this morning, and it just makes you cringe. After the first kid grabbed her purse, the second one hits her, and there’s no point to it. It was just evil.”
He added that the victim “was pretty shaken up, but she didn’t want to go to the hospital at first. From the video, we know that she had just walked in two minutes before and suddenly, she’s attacked.”
A friend described the victim of the assault, who was visiting Omaha from Iowa, as a kind, gentle, quiet person.
According to the St. Cecilia Cathedral Facebook page, the victim — who received treatment in the ER of a local hospital for a large bump on her forehead and then released — was not seriously harmed.
“Friends — I spoke this evening with the woman who was attacked on Sunday. She is doing well and recovering at a friend’s house. She is grateful for all of your prayers, and her hope is that you will pray for her attackers. What a witness to Christian forgiveness. God bless her!”
UPDATE: Wayman Clark, suspect in St. Cecilia Cathedral attack, is now in custody, police say: http://t.co/A7JlLVRlhG pic.twitter.com/tmiMkSdM1Y
— KETV NewsWatch 7 (@KETV) August 19, 2015
[image via YouTube]
