By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – An exciting night waiting for the release of a new video game turned into a frightening ordeal for a local man after he was robbed at gunpoint at Alabaster’s Propst Promenade on Nov. 9.

During a Nov. 11 phone interview, Shelby County resident Tyler Parsons said he pulled into a parking spot in his 2013 Dodge Charger Daytona near Alabaster’s Gamestop store at about 9:45 p.m. to await the midnight release of the Fallout 4 video game.

After he parked, Parsons said two black males pulled up in a red 2005 Dodge Charger and began asking him about his car.

Parsons said one of the black males, who was in his early to mid-20s, was between 5-feet-11-inches and 5-feet-12-inches tall and weighted about 170-180 pounds, approached him and began asking about the vehicle.

“He told me I had a nice car, and was asking a lot of questions about it,” Parsons said. “Driving a sports car, I have people coming up to me all the time asking about it, and we usually swap stories about how we got our cars.”

The suspect then asked Parsons to pop the hood so he could see the engine, and asked Parsons what kind of key it the car used. When Parsons showed the suspect the key, the suspect grabbed it from his hand and pointed a pistol at his chest.

The suspect then told Parsons he would shoot him if he tried to intervene, and then fled the scene in Parsons’ vehicle.

Parsons then ran into Gamestop, and used the business’s phone to call 911. An Alabaster officer arrived within minutes to make the report and issue a “be on the lookout” bulletin to area law enforcement.

According to the APD incident report, the suspects stole Parson’s $30,000 vehicle, a $600 Glock pistol in the center console and a $700 iPhone.

On Nov. 11, the Birmingham Police Department notified Parsons they had located two black males driving his vehicle in Ensley. When officers attempted to stop the vehicle, the suspects fled before making a hard left turn, flipping the vehicle and escaping on foot.

Parsons said his car is totaled, and said the BPD currently is examining the vehicle for fingerprints and DNA evidence in an effort to identify and apprehend the suspects.

“Again, all I’m thankful for is being able to come home to my fiancé,” Parsons wrote in a Nov. 11 Facebook post. “Please be careful out there. Thank you for everyone that has been praying for me. God bless.”