The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office has identified a 31-year-old High Ridge man who allegedly attacked someone inside a House Springs gas station Tuesday afternoon (Aug. 24) and then sideswiped a school bus while fleeing from the scene. Deputies were trying to find the man to arrest him this morning (Aug. 25), Sheriff’s Office spokesman Grant Bissell said.
The alleged assailant entered the High Ridge Quick Stop, 2645 High Ridge Blvd., at about 2:55 p.m. Tuesday. He was not wearing a shirt, had a bandana over his face and was carrying a machete, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
Video surveillance reportedly shows the shirtless man approach a man playing a video machine, and the two men, who apparently know each other, began to argue. Then, the shirtless man allegedly slapped the other with the broad side of the machete blade, which may have cut the man’s face, the report said.
The man playing the game got off a chair and threw something at the alleged assailant. The two continued to argue and the man who allegedly was attacked appeared to throw a glass bottle at the suspect, the surveillance footage shows.
After that, the two began to wrestle, and the alleged victim got the shirtless man in a headlock and appeared to smash a bottle over the suspect’s head. The two fell and continued to wrestle before the alleged assailant left the store. Deputies retrieved the machete from the convenience store, the report said.
Video surveillance also appeared to show the alleged assailant bleeding from his head as he left the store. Then, he reportedly got into a red Dodge Challenger and drove away from the gas station on High Ridge Boulevard to Hwy. PP to Hwy. 30 towards House Springs before getting on Hwy. MM, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
A deputy spotted the Challenger on the highway and began to follow it, although deputies did not begin chasing the car, which sideswiped a Northwest R-1 School District bus on Hwy. MM, the report said.
Chuck McPherson, Northwest’s coordinator of communications and community relations, said students from Valley Middle School and Northwest High School were on the bus when it was struck. He said the students and driver were not injured in the accident, which caused minimal damage to the bus.
The driver lost control of the Challenger near Heads Creek Road, and the car hit a tree. The man ran into a wooded area, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
Deputies searched the area with police dogs until about 5:45 p.m. Tuesday before stopping the man hunt. Since the Sheriff’s Office has identified the alleged assailant, no large-scale search was not resumed this morning, Bissell said.
He said the suspect is not believed to be a threat to residents in the area.
Bissell also said it is unknown why the two men argued and fought inside the convenience store.