Robbery, shooting suspect arrested in Rocky Mount

Bernard Terrance Javar Blue, 31, of Wilson, was wanted on three counts of first-degree kidnapping, two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon and one count each of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Blue was involved in a 5-mile chase with a state trooper along U.S. Highway 301 South in Wilson around 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, authorities said.

The chase started with the trooper tried to pull over a white Mitsubishi Mirage for speeding. The trooper stopped Blue with a precision immobilization technique, or PIT maneuver, in which an officer uses a cruiser to bump a chased car out of control.

Authorities said Blue jumped out of the car and ran into a nearby beauty salon, Distinctively Yours, on Ward Boulevard. The salon was open, and customers and workers were inside. No one was injured.

Authorities said Blue pushed in a ceiling tile and attempted to hide. Witnesses told troopers he was hiding in the false ceiling, and he was arrested.

Blue’s charges stem from a Dec. 29, 2009,  robbery in a residence at 1010 Burt St. in Rocky Mount.

Police said that Blue and Deonta Bridgers, 20, of Bailey, entered the kitchen and ordered Keith Sharpe, 31, and William Battle IV, 23, to lie on the floor. Blue forced Martha Sharpe, 49, from a rear room and ordered her to lie on the floor with the other men.

Bridgers shot Sharpe in the back, and Blue shot Battle in the leg, police said. Sharpe wasn't injured. The suspects fled in a white minivan.

Bridgers was arrested on one count of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill inflicting serious injury, two counts of armed robbery and three counts of first-degree kidnapping. He was given a $150,000 bond.

Tykii Andrew Woodard, 19, of Wilson, was arrested on two counts each of aiding and abetting armed robbery and possession of a stolen firearm. He was given a $30,000 bond.

Blue has a history of dealing drugs in Wilson and Johnston counties, according to state Department of Correction records. He finished a 3½-year sentence for 28 drug convictions in September 2008.