Arnold Police found two missing girls, one 13 and the other 16, and ended up arresting the 16-year-old in connection with a pickup that had been stolen in St. Louis County. A 17-year-old Chesterfield man also was arrested in connection with the stolen pickup, authorities reported.
Arnold Police got a call at 10 a.m. April 4 about the two missing girls. The police were also notified that day about a black 2006 Lincoln Mark LT pickup that had been stolen in St. Louis County, authorities reported.
At 3 p.m., St. Louis County Police contacted Arnold Police after finding the missing 13-year-old at a Salvation Army store in Affton. Then, an Arnold Police officer who was returning the teenager to Arnold, spotted the stolen Lincoln pickup on Hwy. 141, the report said.
The officer did not signal for the pickup to pull over because the teenager was in the patrol vehicle, but instead contacted the Police Station to have another officer go to the area where the pickup was spotted. That officer attempted to pull over the Lincoln on Hwy. 141 near Jeffco Boulevard, but the driver took off down Jeffco with the officer following it, according to the report.
Eventually, the pickup turned onto Fox Pointe Road, and after driving across two lawns, causing an estimated $450 in damage, the driver and a passenger got out of the pickup and tried to escape, running into a wooded area. However, the two were apprehended a short time later and arrested, the report said.
It turned out the passenger was the missing 16-year-old, and she was turned over to juvenile authorities, Lt. Clinton Wooldridge said.
The driver of the pickup was a 17-year-old Chesterfield man, and he already was wanted in St. Louis County on two warrants for stealing motor vehicles. He was booked and held for St. Louis County Police, the report said.
Wooldridge said Arnold Police will seek charges against the man through the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for tampering with a motor vehicle, resisting arrest and property damage, along with numerous traffic violations.
The 13-year-old was returned to her grandmother unharmed, Wooldridge said.