66-year-old woman robbed while waiting outside Omaha food pantry - Omaha World-Herald

66-year-old woman robbed while waiting outside Omaha food pantry - Omaha World-Herald

Two men robbed and pistol-whipped a 66-year-old woman waiting for food early Saturday outside a South Omaha food pantry.

The woman told police that she was waiting in a car in the south parking lot of the Heartland Hope Mission building near 21st and U Streets when she was robbed at 3:15 a.m. The food pantry doesn’t open until 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, but the woman said she wanted to be first in line.

The woman, who declined to be taken to a hospital, told police that the suspects took her purse with $100 inside and a cellphone. She said a suspect wearing a ski mask struck her on the head with a gun.

The Heartland Hope Mission released a statement on Facebook following the incident:

“An occurrence like this has never happened before,” said Chelsea Salifou, CEO of Heartland Hope Mission. “We take the safety of our clients, staff and volunteers very seriously. We have secure entrances on our building and during peak service times we have a security guard on site. We encourage our clients to come during normally scheduled pantry hours.”