An armed man who earlier had forced his way into a home near Ridgeway in a robbery attempt was shot Monday morning when he exchanged gunfire with a highway patrolman north of Pattonsburg.
The Harrison County Sheriffâs Office was notified about the break-in at about 10:46 a.m. when the Harrison County 911 Office received a call from a woman who lives at the residence. She was at home when a man and woman broke into her home. Deputy Sheriff Kevin Lawson, who arrived at the house only minutes after receiving the call, said the victim provided a description leading to the apprehension of the suspects only a few minutes later in northern Daviess County.
Lawson gave the following account of the incident in Harrison County:
The victim became concerned after a woman she didnât know knocked on the front door of her home located just off the Route A exit on I-35. The resident told officers when she looked out the window she observed a man waiting outside her home alongside a car. She was suspicious and decided not to open the door, Lawson said. The resident hid in a back bedroom when she heard the intruders break open the door. The couple stole a compound bow and other items and took them to their car which was backed up in the driveway.
The terrified resident called 911 and gave a description of the couple and their car. The man, who was holding a handgun, came into the bedroom and apparently was startled to find the woman talking on the phone. He told her to hang up the phone. The couple left without harming the woman.
âShe was fortunate that she was able to make the 911 call,â Lawson said. âShe was able to give us a very good description of the suspects and their vehicle,â Lawson said.
The sheriffâs office broadcast a description of the suspectâs vehicle to Bethany police, the Highway Patrol and sheriffâs offices in surrounding counties.
Sergeant Jake Angle of the Highway Patrol said a trooper observed a vehicle matching the suspectâs vehicle description heading southbound on I-35. While attempting to overtake the vehicle, the trooper observed the car exit I-35 at the 80-mile marker and travel westbound on Daviess County Route N. Angle said the trooper overtook the car and observed it slide through the intersection of Route N and Highway 69 and crash into a ditch.
The male and female suspects abandoned the car and fled into a pasture west of the highway where the male began firing at the trooper. The officer returned the gunfire and hit the suspect in the abdomen, but the trooper was not wounded. The woman was taken into custody without incident.
A Lifeflight helicopter picked up the wounded man from the pasture and flew him to the Liberty Hospital where he was reported to be in stable condition on Tuesday morning.
The male suspect was identified as Elmer Martin Sorrell, 52, of High Ridge, Mo., which is near St. Louis.
The female suspect, identified as Lisa Legge, 55, of Washington, Mo., was taken to the Harrison County Jail where she is being held on $100,000 bond.
Legge is charged with first-degree robbery, burglary and stealing.
On Tuesday, Sorrell was arrested on a Daviess County warrant charging him with assault in the first degree (serious physical injury or special victim), armed criminal action, unlawful possession of a firearm, stealing and resisting/interfering with arrest.
Sorrell remains under guard at the Liberty Hospital, according to the Highway Patrol.