Pastor severely beaten while decorating church*

Monday, December 08, 2008

  By Rob McMillan

LOMA LINDA, Calif. (KABC) -- The pastor of a Highland church is in
critical condition after he was beaten and robbed by two men while
trying to decorate his church with Christmas lights. Now he's fighting
for his life in a Loma Linda hospital.

Pastor Dennis Warman is in critical condition. He suffered skull
fractures, internal bleeding and is in a medically-induced coma.

WATCH: Wife of pastor describes how she chased the assailants away from
her husband

Police say the beating was so bad, if they ever find the suspects, they
say they will charge them with attempted murder.

"He was just sobbing, and [we were] helping him, and he had fallen to
the ground," said Mendy Warman, the victim's wife. "And he couldn't
move, and there was just blood everywhere."

Mendy and her daughter Megan were there Saturday night at the Church of
the Valley in Highland when it happened. Pastor Warman was there to make
last-minute preparations for his sermon in the morning.

"I saw the Christmas tree, and half of one of our Christmas trees in the
church, the lights had gone out. And so, he turned and said, 'Oh I'll go
ahead and get you a light bulb out of the shed,'" said Mendy.

The next thing she heard was a cry for help from her husband.

"I got the guitar and just started running towards them with it," said
Mendy. "And as I ran toward them, one guy grabbed the other one and
said, 'Let's get out of here, let's go.' And so they took off running.
And I kind of chased for about 50 feet until I thought, "What am I
doing? And so I turned around, and remember being thankful that I didn't
see a weapon. I didn't see a gun. I was just very thankful that I didn't
see... It could've been much worse than even that."

Family members and friends of Pastor Warman will take any good news they
can get.

"By yesterday afternoon, the bleeding had stopped. And there's no brain
damage," said Mendy. "And so we're rejoicing today in a God that loves
us and cares about the details."

"We're asking for the public's assistance," said Jodi Miller, San
Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. "This is an awful, heinous crime
-- very, very sad that this pastor was approached."

As police search for suspects, there's been an outpouring of support.
But people are asking how something like this could happen.

"That's a question even my daughter asked," said Mendy. "'Daddy was
serving God. How can someone attack him?' Because he loves people so
much. And so my heart's desire is that God will get a hold of people's
lives and it will stop being about violence, and all the things that are
going on that are prevalent. Because there's a man up there in a bed
that loves the community and wants to see a difference. And loves his
God and has a calling in his life."

Police say the motive was robbery. The suspects got away with the
pastor's wallet. There isn't much of a description. The assailants are
believed to be between 19- and 25-years-old. If you have any
information, call (909) 425-9793.