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Five men old enough to qualify for senior-citizen discounts foiled an armed robber and his accomplice yesterday during the 8 a.m. Mass at Christ the King Church on E. Livingston Avenue.
One churchgoer ended up at Grant Medical Center after being pistolwhipped in the back of the church while services for about 150 went on uninterrupted on the altar.
"Our parishioners are not about to let anyone defile their church," said the Rev. Michael Lumpe, Christ the King pastor. "Kudos to those who didn’t just sit and let it happen."
With parishioners’ help, Columbus police arrested Wendell K. Hollingsworth, 43, of Hilliard, and Celeste M. Smith, 51, of the South Side, before 9 a.m. and charged them with aggravated robbery.
Bob, 67, of the East Side, was sitting with his wife, Carol, in the fifth row of the Catholic church when he heard an ex-nun behind them scream that a woman was trying to steal her coat. (The Dispatch is not printing the couple’s last name because the family is concerned about reprisals.)
Bob said he turned and saw Smith in a church pew, grabbing purses from the seats in front of her and stuffing them into a plastic bag.
He ran to the back of the church, grabbed Smith by the shoulders and began leading her to the foyer. Hollingsworth, who also had been in the church, waved a gun in the air above his head and announced, "This is a robbery," according to Columbus police.
Hollingsworth demanded that Bob release Smith. When Bob refused, Hollingsworth struck him several times in the head until he released the woman.
Hollingsworth waved the gun in the air a second time, demanding money. When Hollingsworth pointed the loaded, Russian handgun at his chest, Bob raised his hands in the air. "I said, ‘I give up,’ " Bob said.
Moments later, four other parishioners "came through the doors like football players," Carol said.
They tackled Hollingsworth and piled on top of him as he squirmed to get free. The four, who were between their late 50s and early 70s, stayed atop Hollingsworth until police arrived moments later.
"One guy, I betcha in his 70s, was laying into the bad guy with no fear at all," Bob said.
"Those four were heroes. They knew he had a gun."
As for the rest of the congregation, most are elderly and didn’t hear the goings-on, Bob and Carol said.
Nonetheless, enough parishioners had called 911 from their church pews that circuits overloaded and Carol said her call couldn’t get through. Parishioners watched Smith run one street south to Dover Road, where police arrested her.
Smith pleaded guilty in 2004 to forgery, receiving stolen property and theft. Hollingsworth was arrested 12 times between 1981 and 1992 on charges including aggravated burglary, kidnapping, robbery and safecracking.
Bob received eight staples for a head wound and five stitches for a gash on his neck. He said he’ll be back in the pew he’s used since he joined the parish in 1984.
"It was just a sad situation, a very sad situation that this would happen in a church," he said.
Lumpe consulted with Bishop Frederick Campbell and canceled the 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. services. Lumpe said he will be hiring off-duty Columbus police for all Masses, beginning Sunday.
The attempted robbery began late in the Mass, after the members of the congregation had contributed their weekly offerings.
Carol said that because Smith and Hollingsworth didn’t know to demand money from the collection plate, "You could tell they weren’t churchgoing people."
dgebolys@dispatch.com