The suspect in “Bling Bishop” Lamor Whitehead’s caught-on-camera robbery was reportedly shot and killed by police in a New Jersey hotel on Wednesday.
Shamar Leggette, 41, was the target of an attempted arrest by US marshals on Wednesday afternoon at the MHO Inn and Suites on US 1 in Monmouth Junction, according to NBC New York. Leggette reportedly opened fire on deputy marshals, who retaliated by striking and killing the man.
The attorney general of New Jersey declared that the scene of a fatal gunshot was under investigation. According to authorities, the man was one of three who, on July 24, 2022, held up Whitehead, his wife, and their child at gunpoint at his Canarsie church.
Say-Quan Pollack and suspected accomplice Juwan Anderson, had already been taken into custody a few weeks after the heist. In November, Pollack, 25, entered a guilty plea to a federal robbery allegation.
On July 24, 2022, Whitehead was speaking at Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministry on Remsen Ave near Avenue D when three masked thieves broke into the church as parishioners were worshiping, according to footage. One of the gun-toting assailants robbed Whitehead and his spouse, who was carrying the couple’s child, of $1 million worth of jewels, according to officials.
Rumors following the tragedy suggested it was an inside job, but investigators found the ostentatious bishop had nothing to do with the theft.
Whitehead was later accused of lying to the police, extortion, and fraud in December 2022. According to federal authorities, he used intimidation and deceptive investment promises to get money from victims, including a retired parishioner, and then pocketed it. The fraud and extortion trial for Whitehead – well-known in the city because of his cordial relationship with Mayor Adams – is scheduled to begin the following month.
