A 22-year-old Barnhart man recovered his car after joining a brief police pursuit that started in Arnold and ended in St. Louis County. Police stopped the pursuit, but the victim continued following the suspect to St. Louis, where he was shot at before retrieving his 2007 Mercedes C-Series, Arnold Police reported.
“One of the shots hit his car,” said Brett Ackermann, a corporal with the Arnold Police Department.
Ackermann warns people against pursuing criminals themselves.
“I would advise against chasing to get your car when the police are involved,” he said. “You can always replace property.”
Arnold Police got two calls at approximately 2:15 a.m. May 15 about stolen vehicles and first responded to the 1800 block of Bender Lane, where a 27-year-old Arnold man’s Ford F-150 was stolen. The pickup was spotted when another Arnold Police officer was responding to the report about the theft of the Mercedes at the Fox Chase Apartments. The officer saw the F-150, the Mercedes and a dark-colored Chevrolet SUV leaving the area and attempted to stop the vehicles on the West Outer Road, but the drivers sped away and got onto Hwy. 141, Arnold Police reported.
As other officers joined the pursuit on the highway, a blue Honda CRV with at least three people inside pulled in front of the officers and started chasing the three fleeing vehicles. The owner of the stolen Mercedes was driving the CRV, the report said.
The officers continued the pursuit on northbound I-55 but stopped when the vehicles left city limits. However, the man in the CRV continued to chase the vehicles and followed the Mercedes to a gas station near the intersection of Jefferson Avenue and Utah Street in St. Louis, according to the report.
He got out of the CRV to get the Mercedes, and one of the suspects walking away from the stolen car allegedly shot at the victim twice. The man was not hit, but a bullet struck the Mercedes, and the victim drove away in his car, which was valued at about $10,000, the report said.
As of May 16, no suspects had been identified, and the F-150 stolen from Bender Lane had not been recovered. It was valued at about $40,000, Ackermann said.
Arnold Police said the F-150 and Mercedes had been left unlocked with the keys inside the vehicles.
Anyone with information about the incident should call Arnold Police at 636-296-3204.