Reports highlight final hours of 'Bonnie and Clyde'
Kevin Robinson, krobinson4@pnj.com 6:43 p.m. CST February 8, 2016 p402_premium class is utilized by Google Consumer Surveys
Brittany Harper
(Photo: Special to the News Journal)
Arrest reports from local law enforcement agencies give a glimpse into the final hours of the "modern-day Bonnie and Clyde" days-long flight from justice.
During a standoff with deputies in Milton early Friday morning, Blake Edward Fitzgerald, 30, was killed and Brittany Nicole Harper, 30, was wounded and captured. The couple gained national notoriety after allegedly committing a week-long string of robberies and kidnappings that spanned multiple southern states.
The infamous duo's crime spree took them through Missouri, Georgia, Alabama and Florida before they first came under the radar of the Escambia County Sheriff's Office Thursday evening following an armed robbery at Famous Footwear on Davis Highway. According to Harper's ECSO arrest report, the couple entered the store around 7:15 p.m. and picked out two pairs of sneakers, a backpack and some socks.
At the counter, Fitzgerald reportedly pulled a handgun on the clerk, chambered a round and demanded he open the register. Fitzgerald reportedly took several hundred dollars, then seized the clerk's phone and demanded he lie down in the back of the store.
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'Bonnie & Clyde' crime spree ends in Milton; man dead
The couple fled the scene, and the employee pulled the store's alarm. Deputies were on scene investigating the robbery when a store manager arrived and showed the clerk a wanted poster for Harper and Fitzgerald. The employee positively identified as the couple as the suspects.
Around 7:35 p.m., Pensacola police found a Famous Footwear bag with old shoes and socks inside, as well as a drawer from another store's cash register. Officers were able to identify the suspect's vehicle, which was spotted at the Pensacola Beach toll plaza a short time later.
Law enforcement officers chased the couple into Pensacola, where the duo evaded pursuit by dumping their vehicle on Connell Drive. According to a PPD arrest report, a resident who lived on nearby Whitney Drive heard his dogs barking at something at his back door a short time later.
When he went to the door to investigate, he was met by a man with a gun. Fitzgerald allegedly forced his way inside, followed by Harper, and corralled the home's residents into one room.
The intruders took the family's cell phones and held the residents captive for about two hours, the report said. Fitzgerald wanted to leave earlier, but Harper reportedly said she hurt her back jumping over a fence and that they should stay put until police left the area.
The Escambia County Sheriff's Office held a press conference Friday to release details about the events leading to the shooting of two suspects suspected of robbing and kidnapping numerous people during a six-day, four state crime spree.
When the couple did eventually leave, a resident of the home was able to flag down deputies and advise them that Harper and Fitzgerald were on the run in his car.
Deputies pursued the pair to a residential neighborhood off of Garcon Point Road in Santa Rosa County. Fitzgerald's vehicle pulled around to the rear of a house, and officers pulled the homeowner and his wife outside to safety. The resident of the home said there was a roughly 15-minute standoff where officers ordered Fitzgerald to surrender. Instead, he exited the vehicle and tried to enter the house, and officers shot and killed him.
Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan confirmed that Fitzgerald used Harper as a human shield during the encounter.
Harper was shot in the leg and ankle in the encounter. She was briefly hospitalized before being transported to Escambia County Jail.
Harper is charged with home invasion, two counts of false imprisonment of an adult, one count of false imprisonment of a juvenile, grand theft auto and armed robbery. She is currently being held on $1.16 million bond, and her next court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 26, according to court records.