Arnold Police believe the same person or a group of people working together were responsible for the early-morning thefts of an SUV and a purse on Kingsway Drive and Archer Drive, two streets in a subdivision off Hwy. 141, police reported.
A 66-year-old Arnold woman called police to her home in the 1500 block of Kingsway Drive at about 5:45 a.m. Aug. 20 after she reportedly saw her 2021 Toyota RAV4 being driven away. She told officers she believed she had locked the SUV, the report said.
The victim said she saw a black passenger car with its headlights on outside her home and then someone get into her SUV and drive away. St. Louis Police reportedly saw the SUV and attempted to stop it, but the driver fled from the officers, who did not pursue the RAV4. The SUV’s built-in tracking system was used to help authorities locate it, and the vehicle was recovered later that day in Jennings, according to the report.
At 10:35 a.m. the same day, a 27-year-old Arnold woman called police and said her Louis Vuitton purse was stolen from a 2017 Dodge Ram pickup parked along nearby Archer Drive. The purse was valued at about $2,200, the report said.
The woman said she believed the pickup the purse was stolen from was locked. However, police reported that it did not appear the doors were forced open.
A surveillance video at the victim’s home indicated there was movement outside the house at about 5:30 a.m., but no one was seen in the video, according to the report.
As of Aug. 24, the purse had not been recovered, and no suspects in either theft had been identified, Detective Lt. Jeremy Christopher said. Anyone with information about the thefts should call Arnold Police at 636-296-3204.