Carjacker Asks Victim to Pray for Him
Two stolen cars were used in a burglary try of a gun store in Indianapolis on Thursday, April 20. The suspects rammed one of the vehicles to the establishment but failed to gain entry. The perpetrators escaped, highlighting authorities' failure to stop the rising cases of gun store break-ins in the state.
The incident began when Dennis Matthews was driving to work on Southport Road at 4:30 a.m. local time. As he turned to a dark area on Harding Street in Perry Township, something bumped his red Chevrolet Impala. He pulled over at a stop sign where three men approached him and pulled a gun at him.
The men ordered him to get out the car and took his cell phone. One of the suspects made an unusual request.
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"He asked me, would I pray for him? I said, 'Yeah I'll pray for you,'" Matthews recounted. He said, 'Well, have a nice day.' Have a nice day? You've got a semiautomatic!"
After leaving Matthews, the three men went to Clermont where they carjacked a black Hyundai Accent, Fox 59 reported. The suspects drove the two cars to Bradis Guns in the 6900 block of Kentucky Avenue to burglarize the store but experienced difficulty breaking in.
Neighbors reported hearing gunshots which turned out to be the suspects shooting at the door lock. They also crashed one of the cars on the store's frontage but couldn't get in, prompting them to drive off empty-handed. Police will review surveillance video footage to identify the perpetrators.
A similar smash and grab happened in December 2016, at Elmore's Firearms in Greenwood, wherein the burglars drove off with three broken rifles. Two months before that, a stolen car was smashed through the wall of Indy Trading Post on S. Madison Ave., where 19 firearms were taken. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives received reports of 551 stolen guns last year from 55 federal firearms licensees in Indiana.
