Pastor escapes home invasion in Pa. and realizes he baptized suspect 2 days before

A Lackawanna County, Pa, pastor and his wife survived a frightening home invasion last week, and what perhaps makes it more disturbing for the couple is that they know the suspect. Pastor Daniel Miller of Newton Township had baptized Christopher Phillips two days prior.

Phillips, 44, of Newton Township, is now behind bars, facing charges that include aggravated assault. Two hours before storming into Miller’s home last week, investigators say Phillips assaulted his own sleeping father, breaking his nose, orbital bone and six ribs. His father, Neil Phillips, will require facial reconstructive surgery, reports indicate.

Miller, pastor of the Servant Church of the Abingtons said that he heard banging on his front door around 4 a.m. Wednesday. “I opened the door and yelled, ‘what are you doing here?’ Phillips said ‘get out here you’re not Pastor Dan.’ I said, ‘I am Pastor Dan, two days ago I baptized you in the swimming pool right here.’ Phillips said, ‘you did not, you’re not Pastor Dan’ and he said ‘get out here,’” Miller told the station. “Phillips put his fists up, he wanted to fight me. He was going to beat me to death with his hands.”

Miller told Phillips he had a gun, then Miller and his wife fled to a bathroom, where the locked the door, reports indicate. Though armed, they did not wish to use the gun and escaped through the bathroom window and ran barefoot through the woods to a neighbor’s house. When police got to the Miller home, they struggled with Phillips before taking him into custody, reports indicate.

https://www.pennlive.com/news/2021/09/sheer-terror-pastor-escapes-home-invasion-in-pa-he-baptized-suspect-2-days-prior.html

(I guess the baptism didn't work)