By Michael R. Moser / mmoser@crossville-chronicle.com
A Meigs County man is under bond this week following his arrest after he allegedly car-jacked a vehicle at gunpoint from a rural convenience store parking lot, according to reports.
Jason Paul Baker, 29, 911 Dogtown Rd., Ten Mile, is charged with car-jacking, felony aggravated assault and carrying a weapon for the purpose of going armed. A handgun was recovered by deputies, according to the report.
The incident occurred Monday around 9:40 p.m. in the parking lot of Caruther's Market at the intersection of Lantana Rd. and Taylor's Chapel Rd., according to Deputy David Moore's report.
Witnesses and the victim told investigators that a man approached the victim in the store parking lot, pointed a gun at the victim, and demanded the man's Ford Echo. The assailant then fled in the stolen car, traveling toward Crossville on Lantana Rd.
As police responded to the scene, a second report stated that the vehicle had pulled into the Family Dollar Store parking lot at Lantana Rd. and Dunbar Rd.
When Moore arrived on the scene, he was told by Jennifer Stephens that Ken Stephens was chasing the suspect behind the Family Dollar Store.
Moore attempted to follow but was unable to find the suspect. Stephens did appear from a nearby yard and told the officer that he chased the suspect until the man stopped and pointed a gun at him.
Sheriff Butch Burgess, Crossville Police Assistant Chief Darrell Sherrill, Sgt. Roy Kemmer and Deputy Danny Stone arrived on the scene and further investigation led the men to an apartment on McKinley Dr. where they took Baker into custody.
The victim, Marcos Matias Andrews of the Crossville area, identified the suspect and recovered his vehicle.
Stone, retracing the suspect's flight path from the Family Dollar Store to the McKinley Dr. apartment, found a weapon discarded along that path.
Bond for Baker was set at $150,000.
