Damon M. Bemis, 23, and Rhiannon R. Stilwell, 27, both of Arnold, have been charged with two felonies in connection with two alleged purse-snatching incidents – one at the Schnucks store on Vogel Road in Arnold and the other at the Arnold Walmart Supercenter on Michigan Avenue, authorities reported.
At about 10:15 p.m. May 14, Bemis and Stilwell were outside the Schnucks store, and while Stilwell reportedly acted as a lookout, Bemis allegedly approached a woman walking to her vehicle and demanded her purse and wallet. The woman refused, and Bemis allegedly grabbed her by the hair, slammed her head against her vehicle, pulling out some of her hair, and then grabbed the purse and ran away, the probable-cause statement said.
The purse and its contents were valued at $504, the report said.
Bemis was found a short time later trying to climb a barbed-wire fence at the nearby National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Stilwell was found with Bemis, allegedly trying to help him get away and then lied to police, attempting to create an alibi for him, the report said.
The two were taken to the Arnold Police Station, booked and then released pending application for warrants.
Three days later, at about 1 p.m. May 17, the two were in the Walmart store parking lot, and while a woman was putting groceries in her vehicle, Stilwell allegedly stole a purse out of the victim’s shopping cart, got in a vehicle Bemis was driving, and they fled, according to the report.
That purse and its contents were valued at $804, the report said.
Police were able to use video surveillance from the store to identify the suspects, and at about 5:15 p.m. May 18, officers arrested Bemis at Richardson Place Apartments where he was living and Stilwell at the Taco Bell on Richardson Road in Arnold where she was working, Lt. Clinton Wooldridge said.
Bemis allegedly admitted to police that he had stolen the purse at Schnucks and took part in the theft at Walmart, Arnold Police reported.
Also on May 18, the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged both Bemis and Stilwell with one count of felony second-degree robbery and one count of felony stealing.
The two were being held June 10 in the Jefferson County Jail, with Bemis held on a $25,000 cash-only bond and Stilwell on a $10,000 surety bond.