LAKE COUNTY, Ind. — Indiana State Police are looking for a man accused of kidnapping a good Samaritan who stopped to help at a rollover crash scene on Interstate 65 in northwest Indiana.
ISP said the suspect, Randy Terrell Brown-Watkins, reportedly has a home in Lafayette, Indiana, as well as Chicago. Watkins is considered armed and dangerous. He's described as a black male who is 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 230 pounds.
Troopers were called to a rollover crash on Interstate 65 in Lake County just after midnight on Saturday, Jan. 8.
At around the same time, a good Samaritan stopped to help the driver who had crashed.
Troopers were headed toward the crash when they discovered the good Samaritan had been carjacked.
The van that was carjacked was quickly found but what troopers didn't know was that the victim was driving the vehicle while the suspect, later identified as Watkins, was in the passenger seat.
Police chased the van into Illinois, where it made a sudden stop on Interstate 94 in Cook County.
ISP said the victim got out of the van and immediately laid on the ground.
As the victim explained to officers that the suspect was still in the van, the driver's side door of the van suddenly closed and the van sped away.
Officers tried to chase the van again but they lost sight of it. ISP said it was later found abandoned two miles away.
Investigators found a handgun inside the van.
Watkins was identified as the suspect. ISP said he is considered armed and dangerous and that warrants have been issued for his arrest for the following charges:
- Felony kidnapping while hijacking a vehicle
- Felony armed robbery
- Felony auto theft
- Felony pointing a firearm
- Misdemeanor leaving the scene of a crash
Anyone with information about Watkins' whereabouts is being asked to call ISP at 877-226-1026.
