MEMPHIS, Tenn. – – A suspected vehicle burglar ended up dodging bullets Monday night.
He allegedly tried to break into a man’s truck, but ended up running for his life.
It happened around 10 p.m. after Demaris Johnson and his cousin, Kevin Jamerson, parked their vehicles at Smackers, near Airways and Lamar.
Police say Johnson saw a man trying to break into Jamerson’s truck after his cousin went inside.
When he went to confront him, the suspect pulled a gun, which forced Johnson to pull his gun and start shooting.
He told police it was self-defense.
“He did what he thought best to do at that time,” one woman told us.
Police say the suspect drove off in a white car.
Investigators found 16 shell casings when they got to the scene.
Officers tried to find the suspect by checking hospitals for gun-shot victims, but they didn’t have any luck.
Pat Bonner understands why Johnson opened fire, but says what he did was risky.
“I don’t blame him but, like I said, people on the outside could have gotten hurt,” Bonner says.
She wouldn’t have confronted the suspect at all.
“I’d rather have my life than, like I said, I’d have been like, take the car,” she says, “That’s why we have insurance. So, if something happens, insurance is going to take care of that.”
While nothing was stolen, Jamerson’s truck took a beating to the reported tune of $5,000 worth of damage.