Bank customer chases car, calls 911
GREENSBORO — “Most people run away from a gunfight, and there were a lot of brave officers who ran to a gunfight,” Capt. John Wolfe of the Greensboro Police Department said, describing the actions of dozens of police officers Monday.
Police gave more details at a news conference Tuesday about a shootout on Patterson Street near Interstate 40 that involved two bank robbery suspects and six police officers. One police officer and both suspects were shot Monday, police said.
Robbery suspect Dimarkchrisy Eddie Majors, 22, died early Tuesday at Moses Cone Hospital. police said. The other suspect, Christopher O’Neal Patterson, 23, remained hospitalized Tuesday, police said.
Officer Matt O’Hal was in stable condition Tuesday with a gunshot wound to the leg, police said.
A bank customer reported the robbery at 3608 High Point Road about 5 p.m. Monday. The man, whom police would not identify, called 911 from the bank parking lot and then followed the getaway car, a black Ford Taurus.
Giving turn-by-turn information to the 911 operator, the customer followed the suspects out of the bank parking lot, north on Holden Road and onto a dead-end street where the Taurus was exchanged for a green Infiniti sedan.
“They just walked out,” the customer told the 911 operator. “They got into a black Taurus. ... I’m following them right now.” The operator repeatedly told the man not to put himself in danger. After telling the operator he had been struck in the head by one of the robbers in the bank, he declined her offer of an ambulance.
After the news conference, Police Chief Tim Bellamy said the man should be considered a hero. Most cases are made with the help of witnesses, Bellamy said.
“I have to give all of them the highest accolades,” Bellamy said.
Two police officers picked up the pursuit near Holden Road and Isler Court.
Officers G.D. Jones and J.P. Randazzo tried to stop the suspects, but the Infiniti sped off. The officers followed in what police described as a high-speed chase north on Holden Road then west on Patterson Street. The suspects began firing at the pursuing officers from their vehicle, according to police radio communications.
The suspects tried to pass a woman driving a minivan on the single-lane on-ramp from Patterson Street to Interstate 40, but instead they hit her minivan and lost control.
The minivan driver, Maria Munoz, said she saw the green Infiniti lose control after hitting her car, then recover and drive across the grass median separating the interstate ramps.
The Infiniti headed back north, but went only a few dozen yards toward advancing police cars before turning back south.
Munoz stopped her car after the collision and seconds later heard gunfire. She said she saw one of the suspects with a gun in his hand and hid on the floor of her vehicle. After the gunshots quieted, she looked out the window and saw the wounded officer on the ground.
“I saw him and I just went down again and I started praying. I didn’t want to see anything else,” Munoz said. She was not injured.
Munoz, who drives Patterson Street as a shortcut from her office to the interstate, said being involved in the police gunfight was so traumatic that she wouldn’t be driving her customary route anytime soon.
“I’d rather be in the traffic on Wendover, I guess,” Munoz said.
Officer Matt O’Hal was sandwiched between his vehicle and the Infiniti and was shot in the gunfight. After surgery for his injuries, he was in stable condition Tuesday, police said.
Majors and Patterson are suspected of committing two other area bank robberies and a carjacking, police said.
Police said the men robbed the Lorillard Federal Credit Union at 2917 S. Elm-Eugene St. on Jan. 26 and First Bank at 1200 N. Main St. in High Point on Feb. 2.
Hours before Monday’s robbery at Wachovia, police said, the two men stole the black Ford Taurus in a carjacking at 400 N. Booker St., telling the victim they would kill him if he called police.
Majors’ mother, Daisy Majors of High Point, disputed the police account of Monday’s events. “A lot of what they did and what they said happened was not appropriate,” she said Tuesday. “There’s too many different stories and too many tangles and twines. I believe somebody, somewhere is lying.”
All the officers involved in the shooting Monday are on administrative leave while the State Bureau of Investigation reviews what happened. In addition to O’Hal, Jones and Randazzo, the officers are K.D. Bennett, J.T. Cranford, J.R. Flynt and E.K Wrenn.
“Every day, we train for an incident of this nature,” Rogers said. “They were fired upon and they responded appropriately.”
Staff writer Ryan Seals contributed to this report.
Contact Sonja Elmquist at 373-7090 or sonja.elmquist@news-record.com
Accompanying Photos
Photo Caption: Dimarkchrisy Eddie Majors (left) and Christopher O'Neal Patterson (right)
the events
See a Google map of the events
* * * * * * *
Location: Wachovia bank at 3608 High Point Road
What happens: A Wachovia customer reports a bank robbery. "They just walked out. ... They got into a black Taurus. ... I'm following them right now."
* * * * * * *
Location: Dead end of Cedar Fork Road
What happens: The suspects exchange stolen black Ford Taurus for green Infiniti. Police officers respond.
* * * * * * *
Location: Near Holden Road and Isler Court
What happens: Officers G.D. Jones and J.P. Randazzo try to pull over the Infiniti, but it speeds off. The officers report they are in a chase. Seconds later, they report being shot at by someone in the Infiniti.
* * * * * * *
Location: Patterson Street, southbound ramp onto Interstate 40.
What happens: The Infiniti tries to pass a minivan on the single-lane on-ramp leading to westbound I-40. The Infiniti crashes with the minivan, losing control and driving across the grass median separating the exit ramps.
* * * * * * *
Location: Patterson Street, northbound ramp from Interstate 40
What happens: The Infiniti heads back north but only makes it a few dozen yards before turning back south to avoid "stop sticks" deployed by Officer Matt O'Hal.
O'Hal and five other officers exchange gunfire with the suspects. O'Hal is sandwiched between his vehicle and the Infiniti, and he is injured by gunfire. Both suspects are injured and captured. One suspect later dies at Moses Cone Hospital.
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