By Lisa Trigg
TERRE HAUTE — Two men face armed robbery charges and a third suspect is being sought by police in connection with an early Saturday incident at the Knights Inn motel on the city’s south side.
Courtney Z. Burns, 19, and Harold Alonzo Haggerty III, 21, both face two counts of armed robbery, a class-B felony, for breaking into Room 245 at the hotel and holding two men at gunpoint.
In their initial arraignment Tuesday morning in Vigo Superior Court Division 3, Terre Haute Police Detective Jeff Trotter stated that around 5:23 a.m., two men knocked at a hotel room occupied by four people — two men and two teenage girls.
When the room door was opened, Haggerty and the other suspect, Malcolm Pettis, busted in with handguns and demanded money from the victims. A male victim gave $200 to the men, Trotter said, and with the prospect of getting more money, Haggerty took the victim to a car in the parking lot.
Trotter said that at some point, Haggerty became distracted so the victim wrestled the gun away from him. Haggerty then ran from the scene, and the victim fired two shots at him.
When those shots were fired, Burns, who was waiting nearby in a white car, also fled from the scene in his auto. Pettis also fled from the hotel room.
At a nearby gas station, an off-duty police officer heard the gunfire at the hotel and went to the scene. A man on the hotel balcony told the officer about the armed robbery, and the officer pursued Haggerty and caught him. Pettis also fled but was not captured at that time.
Another police officer responding to the scene saw the white auto fleeing the Knights Inn property and apprehended Burns. Though Burns denied involvement in the crime, Trotter said, a cell phone belonging to Haggerty was found in Burns’ car.
Judge David Bolk found probable cause for the arrest of both Burns and Haggerty on charges of armed robbery, and he gave the prosecutor’s office until Friday to file formal charges in the case.
Bail for each man was set at $75,000, with no 10 percent allowed.
Anyone with information about Pettis is asked to call the anonymous tip line at Crime Stoppers at 238-STOP.
Lisa Trigg can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or lisa.trigg@tribstar.com.
