St. Louis Man Who Fled From Police In A Stolen Vehicle Sentenced To Federal Prison

From the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri:

March 4, 2021

ST. LOUIS – United States District Judge Henry E. Autrey sentenced Clarence Brown to 30 months in prison today. The 35-year-old St. Louis, Missouri resident pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Officers from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department patrolling in the Greater Ville area were advised that a stolen vehicle was traveling eastbound on Natural Bridge Avenue from Kingshighway Boulevard. Officers observed the stolen vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed in the parking lane before parking in the area of Blair Avenue and Monroe Avenue.

Officers identified the driver as Brown who re-entered the vehicle and began driving northbound on Blair Avenue. Officers deployed department-issued spike strips. Brown drove over the spike strips, accelerated at a high rate of speed, and turned onto westbound N. Florissant Avenue. While traveling northbound, on Blair Avenue from Salisbury Avenue, a St. Louis Metropolitan Police Detective observed Brown throw a firearm out of the stolen vehicle’s passenger side window. The detective stopped his patrol car, exited his vehicle, and retrieved the discarded firearm, a Glock 23, .40 caliber pistol containing nine live 9mm cartridges.

The recovered pistol had been reported stolen from a home in Creve Coeur, Missouri on October 16, 2019.

Prior to being arrested, Brown drove in the opposite direction of travel and struck an unsuspecting driver head-on. Brown also ignored several police commands to stop resisting before being apprehended after a short foot pursuit. A computer search revealed that Brown was a felon and had an active warrant for his arrest.

The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney Kourtney M. Bell is handling the case.

This press release was produced by the US Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Missouri. The views expressed here are the author’s own.