PONTIAC, Mich. (WXYZ) — A 29-year-old man insisting to be Jesus Christ is now sitting at the Oakland County Jail pending criminal charges for a larceny in Pontiac.
On April 21, deputies responded to the Eternal Mother Temple Church on W. Kenneth Rd on a report of a man asking for money and intimidating parishioners.
Witnesses say the man insisted he was Jesus Christ and should be given money.
At the scene, deputies were told the 29-year-old stole a donation box containing $831 in cash and ran off from the church.
Deputies provided officers with a suspect description and urged colleagues to be on the lookout. One deputy who had been on an unrelated call in the North Hill Farms Apartment complex saw a man matching the suspect description.
The man was seen carrying a large Plexiglas donation box with cash inside. When deputies approached the suspect, he took off running. Deputies pursued him, eventually deploying a taser two separate times unsuccessfully.
Deputies eventually caught up with the suspect in the area of Fairmount Avenue and Apple Lane and placed him under arrest after a struggle. A deputy did receive a minor injury during the arrest, according to the Oakland County Sheriff's Department.
The donation box was recovered from the area where deputies first attempted to interview the suspect.
