Robbery victim gets free, ducks gunshots.

Byline: Rebecca Nolan The Register-Guard

ELMIRA - Gunmen shot at a man as many as 12 times Tuesday after he broke free of bindings during a home-invasion robbery and chased his three assailants.

Lucky for the victim, the shooters were poor marksmen: Every bullet missed its target, and the man was not injured.

Nicholas William Pearson, 20, Jarrod Michael Swisher, 26, and Jesse Michael Smith, 26, were arrested in connection with the incident.

The robbery occurred shortly before 11 a.m. at a home on Sheffler Road in Elmira. Three men in camouflage and masks, with firearms and a Taser, entered the house and tied up the four adults inside, Lane County sheriff's Lt. Randy Smith said.

The robbers then ransacked the house.

They left with cash, computers, a wallet and a purse. As they rifled through a car outside, one of the victims broke free and chased after them.

"We think at least two of the suspects fired their weapons at him," Smith said.

They fired eight to 10 rounds from a handgun, and at least two rounds from a shotgun, the lieutenant said.

The assailants ran down Sheffler Road and into a wooded area.

The victims called for help at 11 a.m. and sheriff's deputies were dispatched four minutes later.

The man who had been shot at pointed the first two deputies toward a clearing in the woods. They found the first suspect right away, Smith said, and arrested him at gunpoint without a fight.

They found a second man a short time later.

Springfield police soon arrived with a dog to help search for the third man. The dog was able to track him down in two or three minutes, Smith said. There was a minor struggle with the dog, and the third suspect had a small bite wound that was treated at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene, Smith said.

Smith said the suspects face charges of robbery and kidnapping, and possibly attempted murder.