Road trip interrupted by carjacking

Odessa resident Kathy Ratkowski told The Record about the most memorable weekend she has ever experienced. She was picked up by her daughter, son-in-law and two of the couple’s children, a boy 12 and a girl 14, last week Thursday. They were taking a family trip to the high school graduation of another grandchild of Ratkowski in Colorado Springs. The family group headed east on I-90, reaching Missoula, Mont. by 3:30 a.m. Friday morning.

They stopped for gas and snacks at a convenience store near a casino.

On entering the convenience store, the boy and his father saw two men with guns inside. Father and son returned to their car and told the mother to call 911. She did and the family drove away from the scene. The police dispatcher told the family to head to the freeway on ramp and wait there for police to arrive to interview them. Unfortunately, that is also the route the robbery suspects decided to take. Recognizing the car and its occupants from the convenience store, the suspects stopped and commandeered the family’s vehicle, taking the three adults and two children hostage, Ratkowski said.

Police negotiated with the gunmen over a cell phone, finally convincing them to exit the freeway and release the 12-year-old boy at a fast-food restaurant. After a few more minutes of negotiation, Ratkowski and her granddaughter were also released, leaving only the husband and wife in the vehicle with the two suspects.

Kathy Ratkowski’s first-hand account of the carjacking ends here as she and her granddaughter were soon picked up by the police and taken to headquarters. Her daughter and son-in-law told her the suspects then took over the wheel, trying to elude the police at very high speeds, firing at officers from their speeding vehicle. One round was also fired into the vehicle’s dashboard, although Ratkowski was unclear as to how or why that had happened.

At about 5:30 a.m., dispatchers were notified that the mother and father had been left with their SUV on the highway while the suspects took off on foot.

According to local news reports, the Sheriff’s Office and Missoula Police swept the area with a K-9 unit, and the search led them back to the highway, where it was believed an accomplice picked them up.

None of Ratkowski’s family members was injured. After they were all reunited at the police station, they spent the next 12 hours being interviewed by officials and waiting for the outcome of the manhunt. According to Ratkowski, they were fed breakfast at the station, then provided with money for a dinner later on.

Since their vehicle had to remain in police custody until the round fired into the dashboard by the suspects could be removed and kept for evidence, arrangements were made for a rental car to take the family on to their intended destination in Colorado Springs for a high school graduation. Ratkowski said the graduation was “fabulous.” They returned the rental car to Missoula, picked up their own vehicle and headed home. Law enforcement, including FBI agents, continue to be in contact with the family, keeping them abreast of developments in the case.

The Missoula County Sheriff’s Office reported that deputies arrested the two suspects who had robbed a casino and nearby convenience store before carjacking a Washington family. Thomas Dempsey, 36, and Nick West, 38, were taken into custody Friday night and booked into the Missoula County Detention Facility. After getting a tip and working closely with Missoula Police and the FBI, the Sheriff’s Office was able to locate the two suspects who were arrested without incident.

Dempsey is being held on felony robbery, felony aggravated kidnapping charges and violating parole. He’s being held on $100,000 bond.

West faces felony aggravated kidnapping charges and a probation violation and is being held on $250,000 bond.

A third person, Carissa Kopp, admitted to being the getaway driver and has also been charged. The robbers eventually abandoned the car and its two remaining inhabitants and continued on foot until they were picked up by Kopp.

Both Dempsey and West have extensive criminal histories, including convictions of robbery and assault with a weapon.