City Of Clayton: Weekly Police Incident Report: July 26th - August 1st

Press release from the City of Clayton:

08/02/2021 1:07 PM

For the reporting period of Monday, July 26th - Sunday, August 1st, CPD officers responded to 520 calls for service, including 13 automobile accidents & 25 calls to assist the CFD. Among those calls were the following incidents: 
 
Just after midnight Monday, a CPD Officer observed a vehicle exceeding the posted speed limit by over 20 miles per hour in the 6600 block of Clayton Rd. After stopping the car & contacting the driver, the officer determined the man was driving while intoxicated. He was subsequently arrested for DWI. 
 
Residents of the 10 block of Arundel awoke Monday morning to discover their unlocked vehicles had been rummaged through. Stolen were a flashlight & loose change. Surveillance video showed a man wearing a dark shirt & gloves was in the area checking for unlocked car doors at approximately 3:45am. 

Later Monday morning, officers responded to a burglar alarm at a restaurant in the central business district. While officers heard an audible alarm, the building was outwardly secure & there were no signs of forced entry. The owner later responded & discovered someone had forced entry into a locker in the office & stolen approximately $700. He suspects a disgruntled former employee is responsible for the theft. Witnesses reported the former employee was seen in the area roughly the same time the alarm system was triggered.

Officers responded to CVS Monday evening after employees reported a man stole approximately $100 worth of merchandise from the store. Employees described the man as wearing a yellow construction helmet & reflective vest & carrying a red backpack. The man reportedly took the merchandise to a self-checkout station & rang up & bagged the items before leaving the store without making any attempt to pay. 

Responding officers found the man nearby, minus his construction gear & backpack. After searching the area, officers found those items, the stolen merchandise & drug paraphernalia, in plain view inside an unoccupied vehicle. Officers arrested the man for stealing & returned the merchandise to CVS. A search of the man revealed he was also in possession of suspected heroin & additional drug paraphernalia. He was charged with shoplifting & possession of a controlled substance & paraphernalia. He was released pending lab results.

As responding officers entered CVS for the theft investigation, a female carrying a black backpack discarded the bag & quickly exited the store. Inside the pack, officers found bottles of alcohol with the CVS security sensors still attached, several packages of Dove soap, a small baggie containing a suspected controlled substance, drug paraphernalia & debit cards belonging to other people. The woman was last seen boarding a train at the Richmond Heights Metro Link platform.

Early Tuesday morning, a resident on Arundel overheard a loud grinding noise. When he looked outside to determine the source of the noise, he noticed a dark-colored vehicle parked in the middle of the street, next to his neighbor's SUV. The resident yelled out & the car abruptly left, heading eastbound. After inventorying his vehicle later Tuesday morning, the owner of the SUV discovered damage to his exhaust system. A closer look revealed the pipe connected to his catalytic converter was sawed off. An investigation is ongoing.

Approximately 7 hours after stealing from CVS Monday evening, the same man returned & attempted to steal alcohol & soap. When employees confronted him, he discarded the alcohol & fled the store with the stolen soap. He was last seen leaving the area in an older model Ford Taurus. 

While on patrol in Shaw Park early Wednesday morning, officers observed a juvenile riding a bicycle through the parking lot, violating the 11pm curfew. Officers contacted the juvenile's parent, who responded to the park to take custody of the young man. The report has been forwarded to the St. Louis County Family Courts for consideration. 

Wednesday night, a man purchased a sandwich & chips from World News & informed employees the meal was for an unhoused individual. He confided that he expected the individual would attempt to return the items in exchange for cash & he asked the employees not to accept the return. As expected, the man, whos is known to both the store & the CPD, entered the store a short time later & attempted to return the meal. When employees declined the return per store policy, he became argumentative & tried to steal an additional bag of chips. After exiting the store, he struck the window, causing a large hole in the plate glass. Responding officers found the man nearby & arrested him for property damage 1st degree. The report was forwarded to the St. Louis County Prosecutor & a warrant was issued with a $15,000 cash-only bond. 

A woman was driving westbound on Forsyth at Hanley Thursday morning when a black passenger vehicle ran the red light for cross traffic & crashed into her car. Witnesses reported the driver briefly exited his vehicle to survey the damage before leaving the scene without attempting to speak with the victim. An investigation is ongoing.

Later Thursday morning, a man was attempting to parallel park in the 900 block of DeMun when he mistakenly hit the accelerator instead of the brake. As a result, his vehicle jumped the curb & struck a building. Thankfully no one was injured.

A traffic stop in the area of I-170 & S. Brentwood early Sunday morning resulted in the driver's arrest for DWI & Possession of Marijuana. This was her first alcohol-related offense.

Walgreens employees contacted the CPD at approximately 3:30am to report shoplifting in progress. Responding officers intercepted the suspects, a man & woman, as they exited the store, activating the store's audible security alarm. Both subjects initially denied having any unpurchased merchandise. However, after further investigation, the man admitted to concealing a blue-tooth speaker in his clothing. In addition to the stolen merchandise, officers discovered he had several IDs, social security cards, & credit cards that did not belong to him. He was also wanted for theft through Maplewood PD. He was arrested for shoplifting & the warrant.

A computer inquiry revealed an active felony warrant for the woman through St. Charles City PD for possession of a controlled substance. A search of her person & property resulted in the discovery of drug paraphernalia & suspected fentanyl. She was charged with possession of both pending lab results. The report has been forwarded to the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office for review. 

Finally, a passerby reported a man was sleeping in the alleyway in the 10 block of N. Central Sunday morning. Responding officers contacted the man who claimed he decided to nap in the alley after work Saturday night. While speaking with him, they learned he had an active warrant for his arrest through St. Louis County PD for possessing a controlled substance. The man was arrested & a search of his person revealed a baggie of suspected heroin concealed in his clothing. He was charged with possession of a controlled substance & the report will be forwarded to the St. Louis County Prosecutor's Office pending lab results.

Until next week, stay safe!

This press release was produced by the City of Clayton. The views expressed here are the author’s own.