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Federal Charges Filed Against Surviving Suspect In ‘Bonnie And Clyde’ Duo
March 31, 2016
A federal grand jury Wednesday returned conspiracy and armed carjacking charges against the surviving member of the Missouri couple dubbed a modern day “Bonnie and Clyde” that was sought for crimes in four states earlier this year before being apprehended in a hail of gunfire in Santa Rosa County in February.
An eight-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court charges Brittany Nicole Harper, 30, of Joplin, Mo., with one count of conspiracy to transport a stolen vehicle across state lines, two counts of transporting a stolen vehicle across state lines, three counts of carjacking and two counts of brandishing a gun during a crime of violence. Harper remains in the Escambia County Jail in Pensacola on state charges.
The indictment states that the purpose of the conspiracy was for Harper and “her co-conspirator to unlawfully obtain vehicles, by whatever means necessary,” including acts of violence, and then to use the stolen vehicles as transportation between various states. The indictment refers throughout to Harper’s co-conspirator, but does not name him.
Harper was arrested aftera face-off with deputies in which her co-conspirator was shot and killed.
The indictment describes a 10-day, four-state crime spree by Harper and her male companion, Blake Fitzgerald, that began in Webb City, Mo., on Jan. 26, when the couple took a 2009 Cadillac on a test drive from a dealership and never returned. Highlights of the crime spree, as outlined in the indictment, are as follows:
Before arriving in Alabama, the couple burglarized a home in Missouri, where they parked the stolen Cadillac in the garage and stole a 2007 Chevrolet Trailblazer parked at the home.
The couple’s first crime in Alabama is listed as a theft at the Walmart in Bessemer on Jan. 30, before the couple drove the Trailblazer to Tuscaloosa, where they forced a motel clerk at gunpoint into the backseat of the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta he had driven to work. Harper and her companion drove the Jetta to Hoover, where they tried, unsuccessfully, on Jan. 31, to take a Camaro from a McDonald’s employee, and then released the motel clerk in Vestavia Hills.
Soon after releasing the clerk, Fitzgerald entered a home on Monte Vista Drive in Vestavia Hills, where he encountered one of the home owners and his minor children. Fitzgerald put a gun to the man’s neck and began forcing him toward the garage, but the man got free and went for help. Fitzgerald then forced the man’s wife at gunpoint into the homeowners’ 2010 Ford Edge and drove away.
Harper and her companion released the woman near the Grandview Medical Center on Cahaba River Road in Birmingham, and then drove the stolen Ford Edge to Perry County, Ga.
The indictment lists other crimes in Georgia and Florida before Harper’s arrest on Feb. 5 following a high-speed chase through neighborhoods in Santa Rosa County after deputies confronted the couple.
The other crimes listed as part of the conspiracy, but not individually charged in the indictment, include the robbery and kidnapping of a convenience store clerk in Perry, Ga., on Feb. 1, the robbery of Alvin’s Island beach shop in Destin, on Feb. 3, and the robbery of a shoe store and a home invasion and carjacking, all in Pensacola, Fla. on Feb. 4.
Pictured top and bottom: The scene on Garcon Point Road at Saragon Lane, a short distance from where gunfire erupted, killing on member of a couple dubbed a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde by federal authorities. Pictured bottom inset: The home were a chase involving the Missouri couple came to an end on Saragon Lane off Garcon Point Road in Santa Rosa County. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
Comments
3 Responses to “Federal Charges Filed Against Surviving Suspect In ‘Bonnie And Clyde’ Duo”
Satan lured them down the road of lawlessness and the end thereof was destruction!
Boyfriend dead and so is your career of crime, enjoy prison…
She’ll have a very long time to think about her capture and the boyfriend using her as a shield to protect himself. What a loser to have thrown her life away for… not that she’s free of guilt, sounds as if they were perfectly matched.