A Fenton man suspected in the April 17 armed robbery of the Little Caesars restaurant, 1165 Gravois Road, in High Ridge was arrested Wednesday (May 1) at a residence in the 800 block of W. Springfield Road in St. Clair, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office reported.
The Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney's Office charged Dustin A. Seals, 32, in connection with the robbery today (May 2) with the class A felony of first-degree robbery and the unclassified felony of armed criminal action. He also was charged in a separate incident with the class D felony of stealing $750 or more, court records show.
He was being held today in the Jefferson County Jail on $100,000 cash-only bond, according to jail records.
“In cooperation with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, investigators were able to track Seals to the home, and the Franklin County SWAT team brought him into custody without incident,” Jefferson County Sheriff Dave Marshak said in a written statement.
On April 17, a male suspect, later identified as Seals, entered the High Ridge Little Caesars, allegedly displayed a semiautomatic handgun and ordered an employee to give him the money in the cash register. The suspect left the store after telling the employee he would shoot him if he followed him outside, according to the probable-cause statement in the case.
The stealing charge stems from a separate case, in which Seals is accused of the March 27 theft of a tow-behind camper, the probable-cause statement and court records indicate.
A 2007 Coachman Spirit of America pull-behind camper was reported stolen on April 25 from Art’s Self Storage, 2737 Cape Town Village, in High Ridge. However, surveillance footage indicated the date of the theft as March 27 and the investigation led deputies to Seals, the probable-cause statement said.
The investigator said he was able to link Seals to both cases in part because “the male suspect in the robbery also appeared to have similar physical characteristics as Seals, including a visible tattoo on his left shoulder," the report said.
The stolen camper was spotted in the driveway of the St. Clair home and investigators tracked Seals there.
Marshak praised the work of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office in the arrest.
If convicted, Seals faces a sentence up to 30 years in prison for the class A felony, up to seven years for the class D felony and a minimum of three years for the unclassified felony.