New York pastor detained after incident with woman during church livestream mid-sermon

A pastor was detained after his sermon following an incident with a woman during a livestream mid-sermon.

Lamar Whitehead was performing a service at his church in Canarsie, Brooklyn, when he spotted two women he didn't know.

In footage shared on social media, the 44-year-old can be heard speaking to his congregation.

However, things take a turn for the worse when Mr Whitehead confronts a women, claiming that she wants to take pictures and get on social media. Watch the incident unfold below:

He then grabs her by the neck and pulls her out of shot, telling someone to remove her from the building.

After a few seconds, Mr Whitehead is heard saying: "Amen, amen. You're not gonna come up in my space.

"I feel threatened. Amen."

Following the altercation, though, the pastor was detained by the police.

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Speaking to the New York Daily News about the incident, Mr Whitehead said it was embarrassing.

He said: "They lock me up in front of my children, in front of my wife, in front of my church.

"They publicly embarrassed me and then they drop all the charges after two hours and apologise to me."

It came after Mr Whitehead was robbed at gunpoint mid-sermon earlier this year.

The pastor added: "There were a lot of little kids in church that are frightened now — again. All the little babies in my church saw me get arrested, the ones that look up to me."

However, just a couple of hours after being taken in, Mr Whitehead was released from custody.

A spokesperson for the NYPD said the force had received a number of 911 calls reporting a disturbance at a place of worship.

A later statement, following Mr Whitehead's release, said an unidentified 47-year-old woman had been arrested and charged with trespassing and disrupting a religious service.

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Mr Whitehead said he became concerned when he spotted two women moving into the back rows of the service at Leader’s of Tomorrow International Ministry on Sunday (18 September).

He claims he became suspicious of their demeanour, saying they came into the venue 'the same way it happened when my church got robbed'.

After calling up one of the women to 'preach', he then moves out of shot and asks someone to 'get her out of here'.

While going back up to the front, Mr Whitehead claims that one of the women came towards him and began 'cussing him out'.

And that is when he gripped her by the neck and pulled her away, telling someone to 'grab her, grab her'.

Mr Whitehead added: "She came back storming toward my wife and my 10-month-old baby. She went toward my wife and that’s when I grabbed her. I grabbed her and took her out of my church."

UNILAD has contacted NYPD for further comment.

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