Crystal City Police praised a woman who works at a Crystal City insurance office for staying calm and secretly alerting her husband while a man allegedly robbed the business Wednesday afternoon (June 17). No one was hurt, and the suspect, Russell Dunn, 59, of Festus, was taken into custody, Chief Chad Helms said.
At about 3:15 p.m., Crystal City Police got a call about a robbery in progress at Shelter Insurance, 1000 N. Truman Blvd. About a dozen officers responded and surrounded the building, where the man was holed up inside, Helms said.
“When officers found him, he said he had a bomb in a backpack he was going to detonate,” Helms said. “However, officers were able to safely take him into custody.”
Helms said no bomb was found, but officers found a .22-caliber handgun near the man inside the building.
According to the probable-cause statement in the case, the suspect entered the business at about 2:45 p.m. and pointed a handgun at the employee, a 29-year-old woman. She gave him $20, but he then demanded $4,000 from her.
Helms said while the robbery was occurring, the victim managed to alert her husband.
“The victim was able to reach her husband with an SOS message through her watch,” Helms said. “Her husband quickly contacted law enforcement.
“When law enforcement arrived on scene, Mr. Dunn ran away from the front door to the back of the business. When law enforcement ordered him to come out, he advised there was a bomb in a backpack in the business. He told officers to back away or it would detonate.”
Helms said it didn’t take long to determine there was no bomb and to take the man into custody.
“Thankfully, the victim was not injured and the victim did an amazing job of remaining calm, and it greatly helped keep the situation from escalating.”
Helms commended his officers for their work and said he appreciated the help his department received from other law enforcement agencies.
“I want to thank the Festus Police Department and the state Highway Patrol for their response and assistance,” he said.
Dunn was charged today (June 18) with first-degree robbery, a class A felony; armed criminal action, an unclassified felony; and second-degree making a terrorist threat, a class E felony, according to court records.
The class A felony is punishable by 10 to 30 years or life in prison; the armed criminal action charge carries a minimum three-year prison sentence; and the class E felony is punishable by up to four years in prison.
As of this afternoon, Dunn was being held in the Jefferson County Jail on no bond.