Suspect wanted after WREG reporter carjacked at gunpoint in Memphis
by: David Royer, Bruce Moore, Jerrita Patterson, Brian Didlake
UPDATE: Police released surveillance video of the suspect wanted after a WREG reporter was carjacked in Memphis on Tuesday.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Violence hit too close to home Tuesday as a WREG reporter was carjacked at gunpoint while doing his job.
It happened around 10:30 a.m. at the Mobil gas station at E.H. Crump Boulevard and Third Street, on a busy corner just about a mile east of WREG’s studio and offices.
A man approached reporter Mike Suriani while he was on assignment and demanded his news vehicle, a white 2016 Toyota RAV4.
Suriani said he was at a gas pump and got out of the vehicle when a man wearing a mask approached from the sidewalk and shouted to give him the car keys. The man had his hand on a gun that was sticking out of his pocket.
Suriani handed over the keys and the man drove off southbound on Third Street.
The reporter was unhurt.
A WREG reporter obtained surveillance video of the incident.
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Photo by WREG -
Photo by WREG -
Photo by WREG -
Photo by WREG -
Photo by WREG
The suspect got away with the Toyota with Suriani’s personal belongings and all of his work equipment inside.
There was no WREG logo on the side, but the number 19 is on the bottom right bumper of the vehicle. The tag number is BHM 6360.
Police described the suspect as a male with a dark complexion, possibly 6 feet tall, wearing a black head scarf, white jacket, gray shirt and black pants.
According to the Memphis Police Data Hub, this was the first reported carjacking at that intersection within the past year.
However, if you expand just a quarter-mile radius, that number increases to eight.
So far, the number of June car thefts is down significantly compared to years past.
198 cars have been stolen in the past nine days, which is a lot.
However, a drop in the bucket compared to last year, when that number exploded to a little more than 1,000 in a nine-day span.
Memphis Police advises that if anyone were to find themselves in a carjacking situation, to just “give up your property and save your life.”
If you have any information that could help police, call CrimeStoppers at 901-528-CASH.
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