MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A man Memphis Police said chased a woman into a school with a gun after robbing her in August has been arraigned on charges.
Darren Rogers, 26, was indicted Jan. 9, 2024, on charges of theft, aggravated robbery, carrying a weapon on school property, and convicted felon in possession of a firearm. He remains in the Shelby County Jail on $125,000 bond. A public defender was assigned to the case Feb. 1.
According to the police affidavit, it all began the morning of Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023, when a woman in the 5000 block of Village Woods Dr. found her 2011 Hyundai Elantra had been stolen overnight.
MPD said later that same day, officers responded to a robbery at the Gateway Christian School in the 4000 block of Macon Road. A woman reported arriving at the school and parked when a silver Hyundai pulled up. According to the affidavit, a man later identified as Rogers got out of the car with a gun and pointed it at the woman, demanding her purse. She gave it to him, and he took off in the Hyundai.
The affidavit said the woman ran into the school and locked the doors before calling 911. Several minutes later, she saw the same suspect return in the Hyundai, then break out a glass door with the handgun, and enter the school.
According to the police incident report, the woman locked herself in the school office as the man went down the halls, checking door handles. According to the affidavit, she said she could hear the man yelling that he was the police as he searched the school. He eventually left in the Hyundai when he couldn't find her.
No students were present at the school at the time of this incident.
Investigators said in the affidavit that video of the robbery at the school connected them to the stolen Hyundai from that morning, and led to Rogers as a suspect.
According to the affidavit, Rogers admitting to driving the Hyundai knowing it was stolen, and robbing the woman at the school and forcing his way inside the school.
According to the affidavit, Rogers had pleaded guilty to carjacking in February 2016 and was sentenced to 10 years. We have reached out to the D.A.'s Office to find out why he was out of prison.
In a statement after the robbery, the school said the woman is a school employee, and she's "OK" after the robbery, which they described as a "crime of opportunity," since the man was seen circling the school lot beforehand.
A school administrator told ABC24 that while the school has always secured its doors, it would pursue putting a Sky Cop camera in place, as well as possibly hiring a security guard. An MPD officer was on campus the next day to help with security as students showed up to school.
MPD shared video of the incident below: