Police: Praying Robber Charged In 2nd Holdup

INDIANAPOLIS -- A man who police said was involved in a bizarre robbery in which he hugged and prayed with a frightened store clerk was charged Thursday in another robbery last week.

The Marion County Prosecutor's Office filed new charges against Gregory Smith, 23, in connection with the hold up of a Payday Loan business on Oct. 14, 6News' Jack Rinehart reported.

Slideshow: Robber Hugs, Prays With Clerk Before Taking Cash

Video: Watch Montez Interview

Smith became a national news story this week when police said surveillance video inside the Advance America Store in the 900 block of East Washington Street showed him pointing a gun at a female clerk, but then stopping to pray with her when she began to cry.

The clerk, Angela Montez, said on ABC's "Good Morning America" Thursday that she began to pray and told the man not to proceed with the robbery because he is young and has so much life ahead of him.

"He told me he had to do this, that times are really bad," Montez said. "He was going to be homeless. He had no choice."

Police said Smith continued to talk to Montez for 40 minutes, eventually leaving with only $20 and her cell phone. He later turned himself in to police after his mother saw news reports.

Inside the Marion County Jail, Smith said talking with Montez made him think about what he would leave behind if he went to prison.

"She just talked to me like a mother or grandmother would to her child, and she made me feel comfortable," he told Rinehart. "(But people) shouldn't feel sorry for me, no."

When that case garnered media attention, workers at the Payday Loan business at 38th Street and Massachusetts Avenue said they recognized Smith as the man who had robbed their business the week before.

Smith is being held at the Marion County Jail.