Religious Bookstore Owner Practices Forgiveness After Robbery

HEMET (CBSLA.com) — The Hemet Police Department is hoping to identify two thieves seen on surveillance video burglarizing a religious bookstore in Hemet last week.

But Ida Peebles, who owns the store, is taking a different approach: forgiveness. In a Facebook post on Bible Bookstore's page the day after the burglary, she asked her Facebook friends to pray for the suspects.

"I thought, 'This would be so amazing for people to pray for these boys," Peebles told CBS2/KCAL9's Crystal Cruz. "A lot of people on Facebook that are my friends are prayer warriors."

The store's surveillance video footage shows two men ransacking the store in a matter of minutes. Peebles said that the stolen items included a Samsung tablet, 30 T-shirts and about 20 rings worth $10 each. In total, about $750 of merchandise was taken.

"Please pray for them," Peebles said in her Facebook post. "I forgive them because Jesus Christ has forgiven me for worse!"