Clayton Police Incident Report: March 29-April 4

From the City of Clayton:

April 5, 2021

For the reporting period of Monday, March 29th – April 4th, CPD officers responded to 433 calls for service, including 18 automobile crashes, 21 calls to assist the CFD & several reports involving items taken from vehicles. Our community's safety is a collective effort & we need your help to reduce the opportunities for these crimes. Never leave valuables, including purses, wallets, weapons, or keys/key fobs, in your vehicles. Lock your vehicles, home & garage & utilize your security system & exterior lights.

If you do witness suspicious activity or a crime in progress, please do not put yourself or others in harm's way by confronting the individual(s). Instead, if you observe anyone looking under or into vehicles, checking car handles, or walking into driveways & backyards, please dial 911. Be prepared to describe the suspect(s), any vehicles involved & their direction of travel.

Read on for more about what happened around town:

Monday morning, a man was driving northbound on S. Brentwood Blvd. when a vehicle entered his lane from his passenger side & struck his vehicle. The driver of the striking vehicle left the scene without making any attempts to exchange contact information.

Just before 11 pm Monday, a resident of the Hillcrest neighborhood looked out his window & discovered someone inside his vehicle in his driveway. A second subject was standing in the street, acting as a lookout. While searching the area, CPD officers found several unlocked vehicles in the area had been rummaged through. The investigation is ongoing.

While on patrol in the area of Big Bend Blvd. & Wydown Blvd. early Tuesday morning, a CPD officer observed a child's car seat & base abandoned near Forest Ridge. He collected the items & returned them to the CPD for safekeeping.

Tuesday afternoon, a Claverach Park resident discovered her vehicle was missing from her driveway. She'd last used the SUV Sunday afternoon & could not recall whether she had locked the car or left the key fob inside the vehicle. St. Louis County PD recovered the vehicle in their jurisdiction a few hours later. At the time, the victim believed the only items missing from the SUV were a child's seat & base. Officers verified the seat was the same one found near Forest Ridge.

After a visit to Shaw Park Tuesday evening, a woman overheard a loud noise as she returned to her vehicle in the parking lot. As she neared her vehicle, she noticed a person's legs & feet hanging out of her SUV's rear passenger window. She began yelling & the subject, a man, exited her vehicle, taking her purse with him. She last saw him driving from the area in a grey Audi.

A resident of the 7500 block of Byron parked her vehicle on the street Tuesday night, directly in front of an Audi passenger vehicle. As she walked to her residence, she overheard what sounded like a collision. When she returned to her car to investigate, the Audi was no longer in the area & she noticed fresh damage on her vehicle's rear bumper. She did not witness the collision & does not know who owns the Audi.

Thursday morning, a resident of the 7400 block of Byron discovered items were stolen from his unlocked vehicle overnight. At the time of the theft, his vehicle was parked in his driveway. The investigation is ongoing.

Later Thursday morning, a woman parked her vehicle in a metered space in the 7900 block of Forsyth Blvd. When she returned to the car roughly an hour later, she discovered damage to the driver's side front quarter panel. A witness left a note on her windshield reporting a silver Honda SUV struck her parked vehicle before fleeing the scene. The witness followed the SUV onto the parking lot at 52 S. Central, where he confronted the male driver & took a photo of the striking vehicle. He stated the man agreed to return to the scene & report the accident. However, instead of returning to Forsyth, the man drove away from the area.

Hotel staff contacted the CPD Thursday afternoon after a guest's credit card was declined as a fraudulent form of payment. A man & woman had used the card Tuesday to book lodging through the Ritz Carlton app. When the staff attempted to confront the guests, the couple fled in an older model Cadillac sedan. As they exited the parking garage, they struck the parking gate arm, causing property damage. Hotel staff believes the couple has used stolen credit & debit cards to defraud the hotel chain across multiple states. In their rush to leave, they abandoned several personal items, including drug paraphernalia & documents with the woman's name & address. According to hotel staff, the subjects had reportedly used the same card at other Marriott BonVoy properties in Missouri & Tennessee.

A resident of the 800 block of Westwood was inside her condo Friday morning when she overheard loud banging outside her door. When she opened her front door, she discovered someone had pried her Ring doorbell from her doorframe. She has reportedly had multiple uncomfortable encounters with a neighbor & she believes the neighbor is responsible for the theft. Attempts to contact the neighbor were unsuccessful.

Officers responded to the 6400 block of Alamo Friday night after a resident reported seeing 3 subjects checking the door handles on vehicles parked in the alley. Upon arrival, officers discovered the suspects had rifled through multiple unlocked cars throughout the neighborhood. Taken were cash & cell phone accessories.

Finally, an early Sunday morning traffic stop in the area of Clayton Rd. & Ridgemoor resulted in the driver's arrest for DWI.

Until next week, stay safe!

This press release was produced by the City of Clayton. The views expressed here are the author’s own.