A 46-year-old St. Louis man has been charged with four felonies for allegedly stealing nearly $100,000 worth of cash and items, including rare video games, silver and a handgun, from Trade-N-Games, 1053 Gravois Road, in unincorporated Fenton. The theft occurred last summer, according to court documents.
Damon W. Jackson was charged Tuesday (Feb. 25) with one count of stealing $25,000 or more, a class C felony; one count of second-degree burglary, a class D felony; and two counts of stealing $750 or more, each one a class D felony. The class C felony is punishable by three to 10 years in prison, and each of the class D felonies is punishable by up to seven years in prison.
Jackson was being held in the Jefferson County Jail this afternoon (Feb. 26) on a $500,000 bond.
He was arrested at about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday near Casey’s General Store, 1245 N. Truman Blvd., after a Crystal City Police officer spotted him driving a 1999 Audi A6 that had altered licenses plates on it and pulled him over. Jackson allegedly gave a false name to the officer, but the officer determined his real identity and discovered he was wanted in Jefferson County on a warrant for stealing. So, Jackson was held for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Crystal City Police Capt. Mike Pruneau said.
Jackson is accused of stealing a safe from Trade-N-Games at 4:39 a.m. Aug. 16, 2019. The safe reportedly contained $71,510.65 worth of rare video games, $17,000 worth of silver, $10,000 in cash, a .357 magnum revolver and the store owner’s passport, the probable-cause statement in the case said.
On Nov. 6, 2019, Jackson and a female allegedly tried to sell six of the stolen games at Grumpy Bob’s Emporium in Maryville, Ill. However, an Emporium employee was suspicious of the pair and did not complete the transaction and instead contacted the Trade-N-Games owner about the attempted sale. The woman had provided her ID at the Emporium, the probable-cause statement said.
On Nov. 9, 2019, the woman and a male companion allegedly sold two stolen games at Game Over in Union. Then, on Nov. 10, 2019, Jackson allegedly sold four stolen games at Bodach’s Games in Imperial. The next day five stolen games were recovered at the store. Jackson was identified as the person who sold the games, and he was arrested, the report said.
Sheriff’s Office spokesman Grant Bissell said Jackson was arrested on Nov. 11, 2019, and then released pending application for warrants, according to the report.
On Jan. 20, Jackson and the woman allegedly sold stolen games at Slackers Games in St. Louis County. The games were identified as ones that belonged to Trade-N-Games and were returned to the store’s owner, the report said.
Bissell said the woman is a person of interest in the ongoing investigation. However, she has not been charged, so her name will not be released.
However, Bissell said, Arnold Police arrested the woman Jan. 23 in connection with an unrelated incident, and detectives interviewed her and then released her pending application for warrants.