INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – One man is dead and another is behind bars after police say the duo robbed a Lawrence store at gunpoint.
Investigators say the robbery led to police shooting one of the men after he took off, carjacked an innocent bystander and had a shootout with officers in the middle of the road.
“He hit me in the head with his gun,” said victim Lorian Hobbs.
Lorian Hobbs was held at gunpoint in the front seat of her own car when she found herself at the center of a high-speed police chase.
“He snatched the door open and pushed his body into the car and jumped on me. Then he said floor it,” said Hobbs.
Police say Hobbs was carjacked by Jesse Scarsbrook. Investigators say the 28-year-old reportedly robbed a Lawrence business Tuesday afternoon and then used Hobbs as a getaway driver to flee from police.
“He said no make a sharp right and I repeated that back to him. By that point, he was firing gunshots out of the back window at police officers and they were firing back. There were a lot of gunshots going back and forth,” said Hobbs.
Hobbs says the gunshots just missed her as she kept her foot on the gas. Then, with the suspect sitting on her lap, she crashed and saw police surround her car.
“I just slumped over and he got out of the car and fired at the police and then came back to the car to get me. He was pulling on me but I had my seatbelt on,” said Hobbs.
Three Lawrence police officers exchanged shots with Scarsbrook in the middle of Pendleton Pike and Post Road.
“He pulled me out of the car a little more and the next thing that I heard was gunfire and his body fell on my body,” said Hobbs.
Hobbs thought her daughter Brittani was still in the backseat of the car during the chase but the 26-year-old amputee says she jumped out to get to safety.
“When he said floor it is when I heard her hit the gas and I pulled the handle and I jumped out. I tumbled into the ditch,” said Brittani Tuggles.
Right now, the three Lawrence police officers who fired shots during the shootout are on administrative duty during the routine internal investigation.