MEMPHIS, TN --
Reverend Robert Barnes pulled up to the front of his church for prayer service, just like he does every Wednesday. But Wednesday, June 3, 2009, was different. When he got out of his car, two people attacked him, demanded his wallet, and drove away with his car.
“They came and up and attacked me, boom like that,” said Rev. Barnes.
Barnes says the two teens kept yelling "We want your money!"
“I was taken by these two thugs, I would say. From that, a little scrap got on.”
He says one of the carjackers had something in his hand, but he's not sure if it was a gun. At 76 years-old, he fought as hard as he could.
“I'm knowing that if I get down, I'm doomed, so I got to stay up,” Rev. Barnes said.
He says one thought kept going through his mind.
“Just survival, survival that I got to fight for my life because I'm being jumped on by two people. Two young folk at that,” Rev. Barnes said.
Barnes thinks the two carjackers were waiting in a vacant building next to the church, sitting, watching for him to pull up.
“Me driving a Cadillac and dressed well, I'm supposed to have some money. That makes them lunge in on that,” Rev. Barnes said.
He says he's already forgiven his attackers. He also says he would love to talk to them, and that it only makes him more determined as a pastor.
“I know it's a rough area, it's a dope area, it's a dangerous area. You can travel it through faith and addressing the problem closer.”
Police have two people in custody for the carjacking, an 18 year-old woman and a 17 year-old man. Those two were involved in a chase, and ended up crashing the Cadillac, totaling it.
