The Vanderburgh County Prosecutor has decided to file no charges against a man who fired a handgun at a car outside Eastland Mall.
Prosecutor Nicholas Hermann says he decided not to file charges against 33-year-old David Roberts of Owensboro because Roberts appeared to have acted legally under Indiana law.
Hermann tells the Evansville Courier and Press “there aren’t a lot of instances where you are justified in using deadly force.” But he says one exception is to prevent serious bodily injury to oneself or another person.
He said Roberts didn’t pull his handgun and become involved until an alleged victim of a purse snatching, a 66-year-old woman, was knocked to the ground and appeared about to be run over by a car.
Police say Roberts fired about six shots during the incident in the mall parking lot outside the main entrance. Nobody was wounded.
The accused purse-snatchers, 20-year-olds Brittany Deener and Morgan Blair, both of Boonville, were arrested on preliminary charges of strong arm robbery, criminal recklessness with a vehicle, theft, and hit-and-run.