Two different men attempted to stop a man who allegedly stole a boombox from a Fenton-area construction site with one of the pursuers exchanging gunfire with the alleged thief, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office reported.
A construction worker at a site in the Winding Bluffs Valley subdivision said at noon July 6 a man stole a $200 boombox from the work site. The alleged thief fled the area in a Chevrolet Trailblazer, and the worker chased the SUV in a 2002 Ford F-250, the report said.
The worker crashed the pickup he was driving at about 12:20 p.m. at the intersection of Old Sugar Creek Road and Wilderness Lane. The pickup slid off the road into a ditch, but no injury was reported for the worker, the Sheriff’s Office said.
After the crash, the worker flagged down one of his co-workers, who was driving a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado, and told the pickup driver about the theft. The pickup driver began to chase the Trailblazer, while the construction worker remained with his crashed pickup, the report said.
The Sheriff’s Office did not have details about the condition of the Ford after the crash, spokesman Grant Bissell said.
The driver of the Chevrolet followed the Trailblazer onto the parking lot of World Metal Buyers, 8 Lakenny Lane. The pickup driver confronted the man in the SUV, but the Trailblazer drove away, nearly striking the man who had chased it onto the parking lot, the report said.
The man who chased the Trailblazer told deputies he thought he heard gunfire, and he shot at the fleeing SUV. He said he believes he struck the Trailblazer’s driver’s side door, according to the report.
The Trailblazer was last seen driving east on Hwy. 30, the report said.
Deputies were not able to confirm if more than one shot was fired, and no injuries or property damage was reported as a result of gunfire, according to the report.
As of July 19, the boombox had not been recovered, and the man driving the Trailblazer had not been identified, spokesman Grant Bissell said.
The Sheriff’s Office may pursue charges against the construction workers involved in the pursuit of the Trailblazer, but no charges had been sought as of July 19, Bissell said.