Authorities Continue Search For Tulsa Carjacking Suspect

Police are searching for an ex-convict they say beat up a bail bondsman, broke into an 87-year-old woman's house and stole a car.

It all started when a bail bondsman received a tip that ex-con Jonah Beartusk was outside Smoothie King at 51st Street and Yale Avenue.

When the bail bondsman tried to arrest Beartusk, he says they got into a fight.

08/21/13 Related Story: Tulsa Police: Ex-Con Assaults Three, Steals Cash, Car

Bail bondsman Brian Perkins is wearing battle wounds.

He has a sprained arm and you can see scratches on his knuckles.

"This is really just an anomaly," Perkins said. "Most of the time, there's never a problem."

Perkins has picked up criminals for six years.

He went to Smoothie King to arrest ex-con Jonah Beartusk, who was wanted on a warrant for not showing up to court.

"Once I got one hand cuffed, he started to fight before I could get the other one cuffed," Beartusk said. "The fight was on at that point."

Perkins was carrying pepper spray and he says Beartusk got a hold of that and sprayed him in the face.

"You're just reacting," Beartusk said. "You're not really contemplating anything. You're just reacting to the actions of an irrational person at the moment and trying to make sure that you stay safe as well as anybody else that's in the area."

Tulsa police say minutes after the fight, they got a call about a break-in and carjacking in a neighborhood nearly a mile away.

"We get to that location, the suspect fits the same description of the suspect who had escaped the bail bondsman," TPD Officer Leland Ashley said.

Investigators say Beartusk broke into a house, confronted an 87-year-old woman and stole money from her purse.

While he was inside, the woman's daughter showed up to the house.

"She normally stops by to check on her mom, and this individual physically assaulted her, pushed her down, took her car keys and fled in a Ford Taurus," Ashley said.

That Ford Taurus is described as greenish-gray with Oklahoma tag 465-DWZ.

Perkins tells us Beartusk was last seen in the Shawnee area.

If you see him, you're asked to call 911.