Tulsa Police Catch Suspect In Morning Crime Spree

A man who committed two armed robberies in a short time Thursday morning has been captured. Police caught him in a Tulsa couple's stolen Jeep after a pursuit and foot chase in east Tulsa.

He's been identified as 27-year-old Arthur Taylor.

Tulsa police first investigated an armed robbery and carjacking around at a home near 21st and Memorial. Police say Taylor was armed with a gun and hiding in some bushes outside the home just after 6 a.m. as the woman who lived there walked her dog.

He held a gun to her head and forced her to go back into the house and wake up her husband, according to officers on scene. Police say the two were then forced to give Taylor money and some electronics.

Taylor left in the couple's 2011 black Jeep Wrangler. The couple is very shaken up, police say.

Police say the same man was responsible for a second armed robbery in the 500 block of South 120th East Avenue around 7 a.m. Police told News On 6 the victim in that robbery threw his wallet on the ground and said it was empty.

Officers searched for the Jeep and spotted it near 11th and Garnett. Taylor drove off, then bailed out of the Jeep and ran.

He was captured in a yard around 12th and 73rd East Avenue. EMSA medics treated him briefly for the effects of being pepper sprayed.

The stolen items have also been recovered, and police found the man's gun.

"The victim from the first armed robbery was able to come to the scene and positively identify the suspect we took into custody as the suspect that robbed them," said Sergeant Jack Henley, Tulsa Police.

Tulsa police said they were happy to get Taylor off the streets so quickly. 

"It's easy for them to make a mistake - like keeping their finger on the trigger when it shouldn't be - and pointing the weapon at a victim and -without even intending to - shooting someone," Henley said.