An armed robber may have figured that a Lutheran pastor and his wife would be an easy mark last Thursday night as they returned home from a religious concert. But the thug failed to account for the fact that the lady was packing heat.
When the robber told the clergyman to surrender his wallet, the victim’s wife pulled out her gun and shot the crook in the leg.
The confrontation happened at about 11 p.m. on the 1000 block of Pratt St. in Northwood. The Rev. Robert Cook of St. James Lutheran Church, his wife Stephanie and their 12-year-old son were returning home from a concert at another church in Bucks County when a man approached them, pointed what appeared to be a gun and demanded the pastor’s money.
Rev. Cook resisted the robber, who struck him in the head. That’s when Stephanie Cook exited the couple’s car with her own gun and demanded that the robber drop his weapon. He didn’t, so she shot him, police said. Mrs. Cook has a license to carry.
The wounded assailant ran away, but Rev. Cook, who also has a permit to carry, grabbed his wife’s gun and gave chase. The robber jumped onto the running board of a passing car while grasping the roof rack to flee the area.
While responding police were searching the area for the robber, they found the suspect on a nearby street. They took him to Aria-Jefferson Health’s Frankford campus for treatment. His identity has not been released. Police recovered the suspect’s gun and determined that it was actually a nail gun that had been disguised to look like a firearm.
The pastor suffered a lump on his head but did not seek medical treatment. His wife and son were uninjured. ••
