FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WFFT) -- Police are searching for a masked man they say beat a victim with a bat and may have hit him with a car before leading officers in two counties on a chase Saturday morning.
Police say the victim is now in critical condition and that the suspect, last seen driving a burgundy Chevy Impala with a cracked windshield and spoiler.
FWPD says the suspect is believed to be armed and dangerous.
UPDATE: Suspect arrested; man charged with attempted murder in Walmart beating.
Fort Wayne Police responded to the Apple Glen Walmart at 10:25 a.m. Saturday after receiving a report that a man in a gray hoodie and black ski mask was driving around the parking lot in a Chevy Impala.
As officers approached the scene dispatchers told them the suspect was now hitting someone on the ground in the parking lot with a baseball bat.
They say the suspect then got back into his car and headed toward Jefferson Boulevard when a detective spotted him still wearing the mask.
The detective attempted to stop the vehicle but police say the suspect sped up and was able to elude the detective, who ended the pursuit.
They say the license plate on the car had already been removed.
Fort Wayne Police alerted neighboring counties about the vehicle.
They say police in Wells County also attempted to stop the vehicle but were unsuccessful.
Witnesses at Walmart told police that the suspect possibly hit the victim with his car before hitting him with the baseball bat.
Police say he was initially taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries but his condition worsened at the hospital and is now in critical condition.
Investigators are talking to witnesses and checking video surveillance.
They say the suspect is armed and dangerous.
Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call Fort Wayne detectives at (260) 427-1201 or Crime Stoppers at (260) 436-7867.
