A man whom police believe stole three large spools of copper wire that were found on property in the De Soto area has been arrested and charged with five felonies in St. Louis County. Ryan Dale Martin, 37, of Wildwood was arrested Oct. 21 following a high-speed car chase that started in Fenton and ended in St. Louis, according to the St. Louis County Police.
The St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney’s Office on Oct. 23 charged Martin with stealing of more than $25,000, a class C felony, along with first-degree property damage, first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle, stealing a motor vehicle and aggravated fleeing a stop or detention, all class D felonies, court records show.
At about 12:55 p.m. Oct. 21, St. Louis County Police officers saw a 2024 Dodge Durango that had been reported stolen in February outside a Starbucks coffee shop. Two marked police vehicles attempted to stop the Durango, which Martin was driving, the report said.
Martin allegedly led police on a high-speed chase, reaching speeds of more than 100 mph at times as he violated several traffic signals and weaved in and out of traffic. Martin crashed the SUV in St. Louis and ran from the accident, but he was arrested following a brief chase, according to the case’s probable-cause statement.
Martin was under the supervision of the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole for offenses committed in Illinois at the time of his arrest. He was wearing an ankle monitor equipped with GPS tracking, which investigators used to link him to alleged crimes that occurred in February and May in Fenton and south St. Louis County, the report said.
On May 11, a 2017 Freightliner tractor-trailer that belonged to Dimer Trucking was found damaged, including having a side door lock broken, in the 2200 block of Hitzert Court in Fenton. The tractor-trailer had been driven from a parking lot off Hitzert Court and returned several hours, according to the report.
The tractor-trailer that was pulling a flatbed trailer had been driven to Mercy Hospital South, 10010 Kennerly Road, in south St. Louis County and three large spools of copper wire were taken from an Ameren substation on the hospital’s parking lot and loaded onto a trailer. The estimated value of the wire was more than $285,000, the report said.
Surveillance video from where the tractor-trailer was stolen and returned to, the hospital’s parking lot and property in the De Soto area showed a dark-colored Ford Mustang following the Freightliner, according to the report.
The GPS data from Martin’s ankle monitor showed he was near the vicinity where the tractor-trailer was stolen, Mercy Hospital South and the De Soto-area property. Investigators also allegedly found the three stolen spools on the De Soto-area property. The wire had been removed from two of the spools, the report said.
The Durango that Martin was driving on Oct. 21 had been reported stolen in February from South County Dodge, 7127 Lindbergh Blvd., in south St. Louis County. The GPS data from Martin’s ankle monitor showed he was near the car dealership on Feb. 1 when the SUV was stolen, according to the report.
St. Louis County Police reported on Oct. 23 that Martin was being held on a $250,000 cash-only bond at St. Louis County Jail.
A class C felony is punishable by three to 10 years in prison, and class D felonies carry penalties of up to seven years in prison.