HOSTAGE ESCAPES HIJACKED CAR AT BURNSVILLE - Hostagetaker Later Killed By Police

(08/25/2004)

Am 18-year-old Fairmont State freshman Brandon Martyn of Jacksonsburg persuaded his hostage taker to release him early yesterday morning at Burnsville's I-79 exit. Nineteen-year-old Billy Joe Rakes of Franklin was later shot and killed by law enforcement officers following a chase across several counties. Rakes had reportedly car-jacked Martyn and forced him to withdraw money from an ATM. Rakes was later stopped by Summersville police. Gunfire was exchanged and Sergeant Gerald Proctor was grazed in the chest. State Police Sergeant W. J. Scott says the suspect abandoned the car, stole a pickup truck and led police from several law enforcement agencies into Fayette County. While Rakes was attempting to turn onto a secondary road, the truck was nudged by a police car causing it to go off the road. Officers blocked the truck in with their cruisers and ordered Rakes to get out, but he then made what they considered an aggressive move. Two State Police troopers and three Nicholas County sheriff's deputies then fired, killing the suspect.

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