LAKE COUNTY, Ind. — A good Samaritan was kidnapped while stopping at a rollover crash scene in Northwest Indiana, police said.
On Saturday just after 12:15 a.m., Indiana State Troopers responded to a report of rolled over Chrysler 300 in the 254 Mile Marker, which is just north of U.S. 30.
While troopers were responding to the scene, they received information that a good Samaritan, who had stopped to assist the driver, had been carjacked. Troopers located the vehicle, a van, on I-65 that was carjacked — but were unaware that the victim was driving the vehicle, while the suspect, later determined to be Randy Terrell Brown-Watkins, was in the passenger seat.
ISP initiated a pursuit and police followed the vehicle into Illinois where the van made a sudden stop on the Bishop Ford near 115th Street. The driver exited the vehicle and immediately laid on the ground, police said.
As officers were learning from the driver that the suspect was still in the van, the driver’s door suddenly closed — and the vehicle sped away.
Troopers attempted to pursue the van again, however they lost sight of it.
It was later recovered abandoned two miles away from 115th Street. Investigators also recovered a .22 handgun from inside the wrecked Chrysler 300.
Brown-Watkins was arrested Thursday in Decatur, Illinois on separate charges.
He’s been charged with kidnapping while hijacking a vehicle, armed robbery, auto theft, pointing a firearm and leaving the scene of a crash.