A church pastor in Melbourne, Florida, fought back when an armed robber threatened his congregation on Sunday.
The Rev. Les Snodgrass, minister at the Christian Fellowship Church, was recording his sermon when John Grace allegedly turned the church service into an armed robbery.
"He pulled a gun out of his bag and he put it to my mother's head," Snodgrass said. "He began to yell obscenities at myself and my family."
>> Click here to listen to the audio (WARNING: Graphic)
Snodgrass records his sermons and the audio of what went down was captured on tape.
"Johnnie, talk to me. Please, talk to me, Johnnie," Snodgrass can be heard saying.
"I'm not going hurt you. I need your money. Get on the floor," Grace yells.
"We don't have any money," a woman can be heard saying.
"We're poor, Johnnie," said Snodgrass.
Snodgrass said only a handful of people were inside the church with him at the time. He said he was able to turn the table on the robber, who'd been to the church before.
"I leaned into him and I pushed him up against the wall," said Snodgrass.
The group called police and Melbourne officers arrived in moments, taking Grace into custody. He appeared before a judge on Monday and remains jailed.
No one was injured in the robbery, and the gun turned out to be a pellet gun that looked like a real handgun. Grace also had a knife on him, authorities said.
