Bryce Rhodes, 18, of Festus and Braeden Lane, 18, of St. Louis have been accused of shooting at a man after an alleged attempted robbery. The two arranged to meet the man near an intersection north of Festus and attempted to steal his gun, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office reported.
The Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office on Feb. 19 charged Rhodes with first-degree attempted robbery, a class B felony, and armed criminal action, an unclassified felony, court records show.
The Prosecuting Attorney’s Office on Jan. 26 charged Lane with first-degree assault, a class B felony; two counts of armed criminal action, which are unclassified felonies; and unlawful use of a weapon, a class B felony, according to court documents.
Class B felonies are punishable by five to 15 years in prison, and unclassified felonies carry penalties of three to 15 years in prison.
As of March 6, Rhodes and Lane were being held without bond at the Jefferson County Jail in Hillsboro, court records show.
Jefferson County assistant prosecuting attorney Courtney Goodwin is prosecuting the two cases.
According to the cases’ probable-cause statements, Rhodes, Lane and two others were in a vehicle on Jan. 25 that traveled to the intersection of Horine Road and Sunnybrook Drive north of Festus. The group met with a man who had arranged to meet Rhodes to exchange gun parts.
Rhodes, who had driven to the meeting place, and the man began to talk, and Lane was in the front seat of the vehicle. Rhodes allegedly pulled out a gun and demanded man give him a gun that man had, the report said.
The man ran away from Rhodes toward a vehicle he had driven to the intersection. Rhodes and Lane got out of the vehicle they had arrived in, and they allegedly shot at the man, according to the report.
The man was not hit. However, detectives allegedly saw areas on his vehicle that appeared to have been hit by bullets, and they found shell casings in the area of the alleged shooting, the report said.
Lane, who was arrested on Jan. 26, allegedly said he was in the front passenger’s seat of the vehicle Rhodes had driven to the intersection. However, he denied shooting at the man, according to the report.
Rhodes was arrested on March 3, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
The two other people in the vehicle that Rhodes drove to the meeting had not been charged with any crimes as of March 6. One of those two allegedly told investigators that Lane and Rhodes had planned to rob the man, and the other person in the vehicle said Lane shot at the victim as he was fleeing from them, according to the cases’ probable-cause statements.
“This investigation required extensive interviews and evidence collection, and I would like to commend our deputies, detectives, crime scene detectives and the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office for their collaborative work in this case,” Capt. Matt Moore said.