ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - As first reported by KMOX, former Missouri Governor Bob Holden was stolen from while walking to lunch on Washington Avenue Wednesday.

Holden was walking from his Webster University office in the Old Post Office to the Dubliner restaurant on Washington Avenue, when he says a man approached him. “He was a nice looking man with a gas can and he said he needed some help,” Holden said.

At first, he kept walking, but when the man followed him, Holden says he stopped.

“I’ll help you a little,” Holden recalls saying as he pulled out his money clip. That’s when the man grabbed the money clip and ran off, Holden says.

St. Louis Police have confirmed to KMOX that no one was arrested for the theft and it is not known how much money was taken in the incident. Police do not consider the incident a robbery since a weapon was not shown and money was not demanded.

Describing himself as a “big supporter of downtown redevelopment,” Holden was reluctant to talk about the robbery at first and stressed it doesn’t change his perception of downtown.

“It’s not going to offset anything I’ll do,” he said, “There is probably more police protection downtown than any other part of the city. This is one incident, and that’s not the whole reputation of the area.”

Holden, a Democrat, was governor from 2001 to 2005 and founded the Holden Public Policy Forum at Webster University. He also teaches political science classes at the university.