The flamboyant Brooklyn bishop known for flaunting Gucci suits, diamond-encrusted chains and a stable of luxury vehicles says it’s not his fault he was the victim of a $1 million jewelry heist.
Bishop Lamor Miller-Whitehead — who is cozy with Mayor Adams and previously served five years in prison for identity fraud and grand theft — insisted on Instagram that his public displays of wealth did not lead to Sunday’s armed robbery during his live service in Canarsie.
“It’s not about me being flashy,” the Rolls Royce-driving pastor, 44, said in a video shortly after three thieves robbed him and his wife in the middle of his sermon at Leaders of Tomorrow International Ministries.
“It’s about me buying what I want to buy. It’s my privilege to buy what I want to buy.”
The bishop said he could not be faulted for standing out in society, given his status, as critics suggested his “worn out” appearance could have made him an oversized target.
“Sometimes when you’re a famous bishop, it’s a gift and a curse,” Miller-Whitehead said. “You’ll be the talk of the town.”
At the time of the robbery, Miller-Whitehead and his wife were carrying more than $1 million in jewels and gold.
The thieves made a treasure chest of items totaling $1,060,000: $75,000 Rolex watch, $75,000 Cavalier watch, $25,000 Episcopal ruby and diamond ring, $25,000 Episcopal diamond ring, $25,000 pair of earrings, $25,000, $200, $200 episcopal cross, $200, $200 , Episcopal ring, $200, $200, Episcopal and a $10,000 Episcopal gold cross.
“When I see them coming into the sanctuary with their guns, I told everybody [to] get down, everybody just get down,” Miller-Whitehead said in one of two lengthy Instagram videos he posted late Sunday.
“I didn’t know if they wanted to shoot the church or if they were just coming for a robbery.”
The suspects were all wearing masks, but Miller-Whitehead said he could see their faces.
“They took all my wife’s jewelry and took all my jewelry and then they left,” the bishop said, noting that he was even robbed of his wedding band and the debacle left his parishioners “traumatized.”
“But these young men didn’t know the cameras were on and we know what car you were driving.”
The three suspects fled in a white Mercedes, Miller-Whitehead said. He said he saw them changing clothes in the car as he ran after them in vain. They are still in the wind, the police said on Monday.
“For you to kick in a church door and come armed in the middle of the service – what God is going to do to you is above my pay grade,” the bishop said of the suspects, shaking his head.
Miller-Whitehead, who said he understands “the rules of the streets,” asked the public to submit tips to the NYPD.
The flamboyant pastor has had ties to Adams since at least 2013 and made headlines last May when he tried to negotiate the surrender of an accused Subway shooter and claimed to have spoken with Hizzoner while the suspect was at large.
He appeared at more than a dozen high-profile events Adams attended during Adams’ tenure as Brooklyn president, and in 2016, then-BP introduced Miller-Whitehead as “my good friend and good brother” at a concert in East Flatbusk.
At the time, The Post reported that Miller-Whitehead was encouraged by Adams’ support, which helped him promote and raise money for Leaders of Tomorrow Brooklyn, a for-profit company launched in 2014 billed as a non-profit for youth mentoring.
But the firm came under scrutiny when it claimed to have cooperated with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, the NYPD and the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, organizations that at the time claimed to have no ties to the clergy group.
