Steven Deering, 33, of High Ridge has been charged for allegedly assaulting a woman and stealing a car at a Barnhart home before driving to another Barnhart home and threatening a woman and three children who live there. He then broke into that home, authorities reported.
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Cpl. Christopher Gearon kicked in the front door of the home where the woman and children were trapped inside and arrested Deering, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
“I don’t want to speculate on what would have happened without intervention, but Cpl. Gearon’s quick actions to protect innocent persons without regard for what was on the other side of the door speaks volumes of his character and the officers who work for the Sheriff’s Office,” Sheriff Dave Marshak said. “I applaud his actions”
The incident occurred on March 22, and the next day the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Deering for vehicle hijacking resulting in a serious injury, a class A felony; two counts of first-degree burglary, each a class B felony; first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle, a class D felony; and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, each one a class D felony, court documents said.
A class A felony is punishable by 10 to 30 years or life in prison, and a class B felony carries a penalty of five to 15 years in prison. A class D felony is punishable by up to seven years in prison.
As of today, March 25, Deering was being held at the Jefferson County Jail in Hillsboro on a $150,000 cash-only bond, court records show.
Prior to arriving in Barnhart, Deering allegedly assaulted a woman and stole her car in Maplewood, the probable-cause statement in the case said.
According to reports about Deering’s alleged offenses on March 22, he drove a 2017 Toyota Corolla that he reportedly had stolen in Maplewood to a home in the 6500 block of Haven Hill Road in Barnhart. He approached someone outside the home asking for help but was told to leave, the report said.
The person Deering spoke with at the home went inside to call 911 because Deering refused to leave, and in the meantime, another person – a woman – returned home and drove a vehicle into the garage and parked. Deering allegedly assaulted that woman in the garage and stole the vehicle she had been driving, according to the report.
He then drove to a nearby home in the 6500 block of Dry Creek Road, where a woman and three children between the ages of 1 and 5 were playing in the yard. He told the woman and children he was the “Messiah” and they should get inside to be safe, the report said.
The woman took the children inside, locked the door and barricaded herself and the children in a bedroom. Deering then reportedly broke a window in an attempt to unlock the door but couldn’t open the door, so he went to another window and allegedly broke it and climbed through to get into the home, the probable-cause statement said.
Gearon, who has SWAT training, forced his way into the home and arrested Deering without further incident. The woman and three children were not injured, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
Deering was on probation at the time. He pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery in October 2022, and Jefferson County Div. 1 Circuit Judge Joseph Rathert sentenced him to 10 years in prison. However, after Deering completed a treatment program, the sentence was suspended and he was placed on five years’ probation, according to court documents.