‘Bonnie and Clyde’ suspect booked into Florida jail

Criminal Blake Edward Fitzgerald and his girlfriend Brittany Nicole Harper were involved in a shootout in the early hours Friday morning after leading police on a auto chase.

“Thankfully, no innocent member of the public has been physically harmed by this modern-day Bonnie and Clyde, but the couple is armed and unsafe, and has a history of violent crimes and a string of new charges”, U.S. Marshal Martin Keely of the Northern District of Alabama said in a statement released before the shootout.

Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan confirmed during a press conference this morning that Blake Fitzgerald used Brittany Harper as a shield from gunfire.

What followed was a spree of abductions, home invasions and robberies across Alabama, Georgia and Florida, officials said.

The pair were linked to a series of robberies and kidnaps in Alabama, Georgia and Florida after beginning their crime spree on 22 January, when guns were stolen during a burglary in Joplin, Missouri.

On Wednesday, officials said the couple committed a robbery in Walnut Hill, Ala., which is just south of Atmore, and then, allegedly robbed again in Destin, Fla. Escambia County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Amber Southard said the robbery happened about 4:40 p.m. A white, bald male with a thin build entered the store, showed a gun to the clerk and escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash.

On February 3, they conducted two more robberies, and a $10,000 reward was placed on their heads. Harper was taken to a hospital for treatment and is in custody at this time.

Authorities declined to say whether Fitzgerald or Harper engaged the officers with a weapon.

Morgan said his deputies “returned fire”.

Kyle Dease, the hotel clerk they kidnapped, told NBC News that the couple said during his two-hour ordeal that they wanted to get married. They took an exit about four miles later and traveled towards the city’s largest mall, where the law enforcement noose began to tighten. Police Cpl. Chuck Niess says police had hoped to speak with them about the robbery, but “they obviously left the area”. Harper apparently posted on Facebook, “I wasn’t planning on going for a run today but those cops came out of nowhere”. The woman was released unharmed a few miles away from the home. Authorities saw the truck on Interstate 10 at about 12:35 a.m. Friday, and Escambia County sheriff’s deputies chased the truck into neighboring Santa Rosa County, Morgan said. Morgan says the couple held a family hostage in their Pensacola home before fleeing in the family truck. Six of his deputies are on administrative leave after the shooting while an investigation is being conducted by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).