Casey Mitchell Langhans, 27, formerly of Crystal City, has been sentenced to 19 years in prison for endangering the welfare of a child and tampering with a motor vehicle, according to court documents.
Langhans, a prior offender, went on a crime spree June 11, 2014, after police were called to the Steak ‘n Shake restaurant parking lot in Festus where he was seen placing a handgun in a backpack. Police later determined the gun was a pellet gun that looks like a real handgun, a probable-cause statement said,
Langhans had left the Steak ‘n Shake parking lot in a 2001 Oldsmobile Alero before police arrived, but a Festus Police officer spotted him driving on Collins Avenue near Westwood Drive and turned on his emergency lights. Langhans then led police on a chase while he speeded through the city. During the chase, police said the suspect’s vehicle reached a speed of 70 mph while eastbound on Main Street near Park Avenue. In addition, police learned during the pursuit, that the Alero was reported stolen from De Soto, the report said.
Eventually, the chase ended when Langhans turned into a church parking lot at Harrison Lane and South Adams Street, where he crashed the car into the building, causing $3,382 in damage. Langhans ran from the crash site to an apartment complex in the 500 block of Timberwyck and started kicking a door to the apartment building. Police on the scene ordered him to stop, but he kept kicking the door until a woman came out of her apartment and opened the door and he ran past her, up the stairs and into her apartment, according to the report.
Police ordered the woman out of the building, so she exited but told police her two children – a 1-year-old and a 2-year-old – were still inside her apartment, along with another woman and her 2-year-old. When Langhans forced his way into that apartment, he closed the door on one of the 2-year-old’s hands. However, the woman who was still in the apartment was able to free her child’s hand and leave the apartment along with her child, and then Langhans closed and locked the apartment door and kept the two other children inside, the report said.
Police negotiated via cell phone with Langhans, who told police if they didn’t leave, “something bad would happen to the kids and then he would kill himself.” He also said “he was not afraid to die tonight and he would not be taken without a fight,” the probable-cause statement said.
After 30 to 40 minutes of negotiations, Langhans released the 2-year-old child he was holding and shortly after that he released the 1-year-oold. He then asked to talk to his girlfriend, who had not been at the apartment, and shortly after she arrived, Langhans left the apartment and surrendered to the police.
Langhans pleaded guilty to two counts of endangering the welfare of a child and one count of first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle, all felonies, and on Sept. 8, Jefferson County Div. 5 Circuit Judge Victor Melenbrink sentenced him to two seven-year prison terms – one for each of the endangering charges – and to five years for tampering with a motor vehicle, with all the terms to be served consecutively, for a total of 19 years, court records said.
Jefferson County assistant prosecuting attorney Douglas S. Pribble handled the case.
The 19-year sentence will be served concurrently, or at the same time, with a 15-year term Langhans was sentenced to for second-degree robbery and second-degree assault, both felonies, stemming from August 2012 incidents in Jefferson County. That sentence previously had been suspended and he was on five years’ probation; however, the probation was revoked, court records show.
In addition, Langhans previously pleaded guilty to first-degree tampering and receiving stolen property tied to a November 2013 incident in Jefferson County, according to court documents.
He currently is in the Jefferson City Correctional Center.