Otis Story, a former CEO of Grady Memorial Hospital, admits he may watch too much television.
When he was robbed at gunpoint in College Park on Tuesday, his first response wasn't to call police. He said it was to chase the man who took his wallet.
Story had just met with some friends and was walking back to his car, parked in a lot on Virginia Avenue. As he approached his burgundy Cadillac Escalade, a man drove next to him in a black pickup truck.
"I hear the man say ‘Sir?' like I was in any shopping mall," Story said. "I turned around, and I was right in harm's way."
When Story turned, he saw a tattooed man wearing a black muscle shirt leaning across a woman out of the passenger side window. Story figured the man was lost and needed directions. Until he saw the gun.
"He said, ‘I'm not going to hurt you, just give me your wallet,'" Story said.
Story tried negotiating with the man, offering his car keys and about $80 cash in order to keep his credit cards. But the man began moving his hand -- the one holding the gun -- so Story handed over his wallet. He estimated the incident lasted less than a minute.
After the assailant drove away, Story yelled out to his friends, who were still in the parking lot. But he didn't call police. Instead, he jumped into his car and followed the truck down Virgina Avenue.
Adrenaline pumping, Story tailed the man, unaware he was being followed, through College Park. Story's plan was to collide with the robber and force him to abandon the truck on foot. That way, Story said, he'd have something police could trace.
"It was going to be truck on truck," he said. "I believed this criminal had to be stopped."
When they reached an intersection, Story said he was ready to make his move. He attempted to wave vehicles to the side of the road, but that caught the attention of the robber, who sped off southbound through the red light and into the opposite lane of traffic on Roosevelt Highway.
Story said he realized it was too dangerous to continue and notified a police officer he saw up the road. The officer searched for the suspect but was unable to find him.
After the robbery, Story’s credit card was used at two convenience stores just outside College Park, said Sgt. Jeff Hightower, a College Park police detective.
Hightower said the truck was a late 1980s-model Chevrolet s1o. He described the suspects as a man and woman in their mid-20s.
Police were following leads to locate the suspects Thursday, Hightower said.
Story served as CEO from April 2007 until January 2008, when the hospital's board fired him.
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