Carjacking victim feared for his life

AUSTIN (KXAN) - While Austin police were searching for the man accused of shooting at two police officers after an armed robbery Monday, a man named Rick was just getting off of work at a store near the Capital Plaza shopping center.

"We always have people walking up to us out in the parking lot asking for donations, a dollar, two dollars, so I rolled my window down a little bit to hear what his request was and his request was a little different than what we're used to getting," Rick said Tuesday.

It wasn't so much what Rick heard that caused him to take notice, he said. It's what he saw.

"It was a gun- I don't know what kind- all I saw was a black muzzle but it was enough to convince me to listen," he said.

The man told Rick his name was Mark. And he told him they were going for a ride.

"He proceeded to climb in to the backseat behind me and gave me instructions as to which way he wanted to go," Rick recalled.

A manhunt was in full swing by this time and Mark was doing a lot of talking.

"He told me that he wasn't going to hurt me," Rick said. "That he had to get out of the area- that he'd been trying to find a job and that he needed money but nobody could hire him or whatever so he had to do what he had to do."

At first, Rick said he was afraid for his life because of the gun. But that changed quickly during the 15 minute drive he took with Mark.

"As we drove along I could sense that he was calm and collected and I felt that I was- my life wasn't in as much danger as I thought at the beginning- and then when he got out of the car- it surprised me again- calm and collected. He said pull over and I'm getting out here."

The man got out of Rick's car on Old Manor Road, where police caught up with him at an apartment complex and took him in to custody peacefully. Rick kept driving to the next street where he pulled off the road and called 911.

"I'm the kind of guy that just takes things as it comes- I don't get excited I don't get upset I just take it as it comes," Rick said. "I'm fine."

Police say the 'Mark' who car jacked Rick is Mark Fruge, 51. He is charged with three counts of attempted capital murder, armed robbery, and aggravated kidnapping. The last charge is related to Rick's car jacking.