Manhunt for Modern-day Bonnie & Clyde Ends in Car Chase, Shootout

VOA News
February 5, 2016 11:17AM

The crime spree of a “modern-day Bonnie and Clyde” ended in a car chase and shootout with law enforcement officers that left the man dead and the woman wounded and under arrest in Florida.

Blake Fitzgerald and Brittany Harper allegedly committed a string of armed robberies similar to those of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, the infamous couple who were responsible for a series of robberies and killings in the 1930's.

Fitzgerald and Harper were from the state of Missouri. It is alleged their crime spree extended across southern U.S. states such as Florida, Georgia and Alabama and that they would rob and kidnap people, then let them go and stealing their vehicles.

The couple were also suspected of breaking into a house in Missouri and two robberies in Florida.

Law enforcement had offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the couple’s arrest.

Police caught up with the couple in Pensacola, Florida, which led to a car chase from Escambia County to Santa Rosa County, where the shootout reportedly occurred.

The couple also were charged with robbing and abducting a hotel clerk in Alabama. Authorities say the two took the clerk’s car after letting him go.

The clerk told Al.com that he was with the couple for about two hours, driving with them from Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, Alabama.

He said the couple told him they wanted to make it to Florida where they planned to get married. The man told the clerk he did not want to go back to jail.

Soon after releasing the clerk, the couple allegedly abducted a woman and took her car after releasing her.

On Monday night, the couple allegedly held up a gas station worker in Georgia, stealing money and taking cigarettes. They then kidnapped the clerk and took his car, releasing him 24 kilometers away, officials said.