The wife of a prominent Chicago pastor says she was robbed by a man impersonating a utility worker.
It happened at about 6:40 a.m. in front of their West Side home on Midway Park.
Priscilla Hatch, wife of Pastor Marshall Hatch of the New Mount Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church in Austin, says she was walking to work when a man came from behind a bush and walked toward her.
Hatch says she didn't think to be wary because the man was wearing a hoodie, camouflage pants and a fluorescent orange and yellow safety vest that made him look like a utility worker or a CPS safety passage worker.
She says the man held a gun to her nose and demanded her purse, so she handed it over and began screaming when he fled.
A neighbor rushed to her aid and sent his dog to chase the suspect. They eventually cornered the man, but backed away when he threatened them with his gun.
The purse was later recovered in a nearby alley.
According to a church statement, it's the third robbery at gunpoint in the past three weeks on the same block, all by individuals impersonating utility workers.
A community meeting is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday at St. Martin's Episcopal Church to discuss the crimes and ways to combat them.
