Man describes confrontation with robbery suspect before deadly pursuit

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- The Harris County Sheriff's Office is still searching for a man who left a trail of destruction in his wake following two robberies Wednesday night.

Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said it began with a robbery at an Exxon gas station off the Eastex Freeway and Little York. Surveillance video shows the suspect used a gun to threaten the clerk, demanding he place cash and cigarettes into a trash can. The man is then seen loading up on scratch-off tickets as a customer walks up to the counter and confronts him.

"I look like that, and I (saw) the guy. He had a gun," said Jay Andrade.

Andrade told ABC 13 he stepped in immediately, in an attempt to stop the robbery.

"I told him, 'You're not going to do this to my friend.' And I went to the door and I tried to block the door. So whenever I tried to knock the stuff out of his hand, he pulled the gun out on me," said Andrade, who is a loyal customer and friend of the clerk.

Video also shows Andrade pulled the trash can out of the man's grip. As the cash, cigarettes and scratch-offs fell to the floor, he said the suspect pulled a gun on him.

"He told me, 'Back up or I'll kill you.' I mean, and I backed up," Andrade recalled.

Gonzalez said the suspect, undeterred by this confrontation, drove to a nearby CVS off Eastex Freeway and Tidwell where he used the gun again to commit a robbery. As deputies got word of the back-to-back robberies, they spotted the man and tried to pull him over. When he did not comply, they said a pursuit began.

Houston police said a deputy used their lights and sirens when he sped through an intersection at Laura Koppe and Lockwood. The deputy's unit collided with a black Kia, causing a fiery aftermath. The driver of the Kia, Autrey Davis, was killed. Two children in her car were also injured.

"Approximately five and two years old. We believe the older child is in critical condition. The younger child is in stable condition," said Houston police assistant chief Chandra Hatcher.

Hatcher said the deputy was also taken to the hospital in stable condition.

"If I could have stopped him here, I wish I could have," said Andrade after learning about the chaos that ensued following the gas station confrontation.

If you know anything information regarding the suspect, you are urged to contact the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

For updates on this story, follow Shelley Childers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.