By Lucy Perry
Indiana Central News

An armed robbery suspect is in jail following an early morning pursuit in Terre Haute Thursday.

DeWayne K. Hayden, 26, of Indianapolis, was booked into the Vigo County Jail around 6:30 a.m., after reportedly being taken to the hospital for cuts on his hands. He is now charged with:

• Armed robbery, Level 3 felony
• Resisting law enforcement, Level 6 felony
• Criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon, Level 6 felony
• Theft, Level 6 felony

A pursuit for the suspect began around 1:30 a.m., when the he fled n a silver passenger vehicle from the Marathon gas station on S. Third Street and Margaret Avenue.
 
Indiana State Police Senior Trooper David Petrowski located the vehicle and initialted a traffic stop, near First and Ohio Streets.

The suspect stopped the car and foot pursuit ensued, Sgt. Matt Ames explained.

Petwoski met up with the suspect around a corner of a building.

"This is when he observed the suspect in a shooting stance, with a handgun pointed directly at him.  Trooper Petrowski then fired one shot, not striking the suspect, and took cover next to the building," Ames said, explaining that Petrowski has since been placed on paid administrative leave, which Ames said is routine procedue when shots are fired.  

Meanwhile, the suspect fled on foot again.

Terre Haute Police Department Sgt. Justin Sears and his K-9 partner Ossy,  arrived to assist on scene a short time later. Ossy ultimately was able to track the suspect to an apartment complex on the east side of Third Street. 

After finding Hayden  lying on the ground, officers were able to take him into custody.

Evidence was gathered at the scene.

"While processing the crime scene, technicians were able to locate evidence from the armed robbery, as well as a loaded handgun on the rooftop of the apartment complex where the suspect was taken into custody," Ames said.

Officers found the deceased victim locked inside a storage shed just off Springhill Drive, on the city's south side. 

Ultimately, the sole suspect, Philip M. Atterson, 29, turned himself in to authorities three days later in Johnson County. He was transported to Vigo County Monday night, where he was wanted on a warrant for murder.

According to the probable cause affidavit, filed by Detective M. Parmer, of the Vigo County Sheriff's Office, it became immediately clear the suspect and victim had been living together in storage unit #13 for some time. 

A cadaver dog was called to assist officers at the scene and quickly picked up on the one in question, after walking past several units.

A search warrant was soon executed. Padlocks were cut from the door.

When the door was opened, the victim's arm and leg were observed sticking out from behind a pile of items, next to a pickup truck, according to the court documents.

While investigators were at the scene Christmas night, one witness came forward. He explained the series of events that ended up with a murder on Christmas Eve.

The witness reportedly stated he was in the storage unit with the suspect and victim just before the homicide occurred.   According to the documents, he admitted to police they had been "smoking meth and just hanging around for a couple hours" Christmas Eve. The man and woman were arguing with each other while he was visiting, he said. The witness left around 9 or 10 p.m.

Atterson called his friend to come back, just a few minutes later.

He returned and recalls seeing the ax wedged in her head.

Atterson allegedlly told him, " I did that, man." Blood was visible on his arm.

Shaken up, the witness feigned that he would go get some trash bags. He quickly fled the area.

Police received a hangup call requesting an area check of the storage units a short time later.
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