One of two men involved in a Jefferson County carjacking has been sentenced to 17 1/2 years in prison. The carjacking left a House Springs man with permanent injuries, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.
Brandon Vandoren, 29, of St. Louis County was sentenced on Feb. 13 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. He pleaded guilty to the carjacking charge on Nov. 8, court records show.
Matthew Carver, 31, of St. Louis, who drove Vandoren to the gas station where the carjacking occurred, pleaded guilty to a being a felon in possession of a firearm in November. He is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday, Feb. 22, according to court documents.
Carver faces a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
According to the guilty plea agreement, Vandoren hit Joseph Bates, who was 31 at the time, with a stolen 2007 Saturn Aura outside of the Moto Mart gas station, 8489 Local Hillsboro Road, in Cedar Hill.
Bates suffered brain injuries, a broken leg, a fractured shoulder and multiple facial fracturs, his fiancee, Becky Henley, said in November.
At about 8:30 p.m. May 20, 2020, Carver and Vandoren arrived at the Moto Mart in a stolen 2013 Dodge Dart. Vandoren got out of the Dart and into the Saturn, which Bates had driven to the gas station after working on it for his uncle.
When Bates saw the Aura was being stolen, he ran out of the gas station’s convenience store and threw a coke at the car. Vandoren hit Bates with Saturn as he turned the car onto Hwy. 30, the guilty plea said.
At about 8:40 p.m., a Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office deputy saw the Dart and Aura traveling east on Hwy. 30 toward House Springs. The cars turned onto Hwy. MM, which turns into Hwy. M, and eventually the drivers of the two cars attempted to get onto the northbound I-55 entrance ramp. The Saturn got onto I-55. However, as the Dart was making its turn to get onto the interstate, it crashed, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
Carver got out of the Dodge and allegedly attempted to run away. After a struggle with deputies, one of them used a stun gun to subdue Carver, and he was taken into custody, the report said.
During the investigation, deputies learned the Dodge had been reported stolen from Creve Coeur, Sheriff’s Office spokesman Grant Bissell said in May 2020.
On May 21, 2020, a St. Louis County Police officer spotted the Saturn at an America’s Best Value Inn hotel in St. Louis County. Vandoren was found in a hotel room and was arrested, according to the guilty plea.
Officers found a 9mm Taurus handgun with five rounds in the magazine, syringes and capsules suspected of containing illegal substances in the room. Investigators also found several Facebook Live videos posted on May 20, 2020, that showed Vandoren and Carver holding the gun found in the hotel room, the guilty plea said.
Vandoren and Carver are both convicted felons, and they are not allowed to be in possession of a gun, according to the guilty plea.
The Sheriff’s Office and the Missouri State Highway Patrol investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassandra Wiemken is handling the case.