Clayton Weekly Police Incident Report: Jan. 11-17

From the City of Clayton:

January 19, 2021

For the reporting period of Monday, January 11th – Sunday, January 17th, CPD Officers responded to 388 calls for service, including 11 vehicle accidents & 20 calls to assist the CFD. Among those calls were the following events:

An investigation of a suspicious vehicle on the CVS parking lot early Monday morning resulted in the driver's arrest for multiple charges, including shoplifting, possession of marijuana & resisting arrest. He was issued municipal summonses for each offense & was released from custody with a pending court appearance in the Clayton Municipal court.

A resident in the 900 block of Concordia awoke Monday morning to discover her vehicle was rummaged through sometime overnight. Nothing of value was taken.

Later Monday morning, officers were conducting a traffic stop in the area of S. Hanley & Clayton Rd. when they discovered the driver deliberately provided false identification to conceal the fact her driving privileges were suspended. When she learned she would not be allowed to drive the vehicle from the scene, the driver became irate & tried to run away. As officers detained her, she attempted to punch them. She continued to fight officers by kicking them as she was handcuffed & secured in a patrol vehicle. As a result, she was charged with driving while suspended, assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest & other traffic charges. She was released from custody with a court date through the Clayton Municipal court.

While reviewing his credit card statement Friday, a resident discovered his personal information had been compromised & someone had used his credit card to make several unauthorized purchases. At the time, he was still in possession of the card & it is unclear when or how the information was compromised. One of the fraudulent charges was made at a Clayton hotel where someone used the card information to reserve a room. He reported the charges to his credit card company & they canceled the card. Monday afternoon, he was contacted by the hotel & learned the hotel had received 2 FedEx packages addressed to him. The packages & their contents were determined to be included in the purchases he reported as fraudulent. They were seized from the hotel & released to FedEx to be returned to the sender. This is a reminder of the importance of regularly checking your financial statements for discrepancies &/or fraudulent transactions. For more information on detecting & reporting credit card fraud, please visit ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Late Monday night, an officer observed a vehicle failing to maintain a single lane of traffic while traveling down S. Hanley Rd. The officer attempted to stop the vehicle as it continued northbound. However, the driver turned onto Bonhomme, where it accelerated before violating several traffic signals, causing the officer to lose sight of the vehicle. The vehicle was found crashed & abandoned at the entrance to Forest Park Parkway & Shaw Park Dr. a short time later. Inside the vehicle were several open containers of alcohol. With the help of Ladue PD, the driver was found nearby. The driver admitted to consuming the alcohol while driving & intentionally fleeing to avoid arrest. He was subsequently arrested & charged with, among other things, DWI, resisting arrest, leaving the scene of an accident & driving with a suspended license (suspended related to a previous DWI).

Tuesday night, officers responded to the 100 block of N. Brentwood for a report of a roll-over vehicle accident. The driver stated she was emotionally upset & was driving erratically when she lost control of her vehicle. Witnesses described watching as the vehicle traveled at a high rate of speed when it left the roadway & struck two trees before rolling onto its side. A passenger suffered minor injuries & was transported to a nearby hospital for treatment.

When he could not access his building's parking garage Tuesday night, a resident of the 8500 block of Maryland Ave. parked his vehicle at a metered space in the 8400 block of Maryland. He returned to the area Wednesday morning & the vehicle was gone. The vehicle was left unlocked with a key fob inside.

A CVS employee confronted a man after observing him conceal a bottle of alcohol in his clothing. When confronted, the man was holding a second bottle of alcohol & denied possession of any other merchandise. He proceeded to the front register, set the bottle on the counter & claimed he needed to respond to his vehicle to retrieve his wallet. As he exited, the store's anti-theft alarm was activated by the bottle the man still had concealed. The employee last saw the man leaving the area in a white Chrysler Sebring.

Early Thursday morning, an officer was conducting an early morning foot patrol in the Hillcrest neighborhood when he noticed a pedestrian on Arundel, between DeMun & University. The subject was walking from vehicle to vehicle, presumably looking for unlocked vehicles, as they continued westbound on the street. The officer remained in the area but lost sight of the subject near University. We want to thank our residents & visitors for using your #9pmRoutines. Your vigilance seems to have thwarted this would-be thief. Keep up the good work & remember to remove anything of value from your vehicles & secure your vehicles, home & garage.

Four guests of a local hotel awoke Thursday morning to discover their vehicles had been rummaged through overnight. Windows were broken on two of the vehicles. Taken were a pair of sunglasses & a set of keys. At the time of this report, no witnesses or suspects have been identified. An investigation continues.

Early Friday morning, a man parked his vehicle in the 8000 block of Maryland. He left the engine running as he exited the vehicle to walk to a nearby dropbox. When he returned, he discovered someone had stolen his vehicle. The owner reported his key fob was still in his pocket at the time of the theft.

A local company contacted the CPD Friday afternoon to report a wire fraud theft & an ongoing scam. Mid-December, a scammer successfully piggybacked onto an established email chain between an employee of the company & one of their legitimate vendors. By posing as the vendor, the scammer continued communication with the employee & requested a large wire transfer to an out of state bank. The transfer was initiated & completed a few days later before the company discovered the actual vendor had not requested or received the funds. The employee was contacted again Friday morning when the scammer attempted to set up additional wire transfers.

A woman reported receiving multiple sexually explicit text messages from a number she did not recognize Friday night. She believes her ex-boyfriend sent the messages because they contained several older photos of herself, which she had only shared with him. Officers learned the man is currently on probation for stalking the woman several years ago. An investigation is ongoing.

A local business requested aid in removing an intoxicated subject from their store Saturday night. When officers arrived, they contacted an extremely intoxicated woman. For her safety, officers escorted her from the business & requested EMS personnel respond for assistance in transporting her to a local hospital. While awaiting their arrival, the woman became belligerent & combative, repeatedly hitting & punching the officers. She was handcuffed before she was secured in the ambulance. While en route to the hospital, she continuously kicked at the paramedics. Her combative behavior persisted at the hospital, where she fought with hospital staff. The woman was issued a summons for assault on special victims & was released to the hospital for medical treatment.

Officers responded to the 800 block of Seminary early Sunday morning for a report of a multi-vehicle crash. The lone driver caused a chain reaction when he fell asleep behind the wheel & struck a parked vehicle, causing the vehicle to be pushed into another parked vehicle, followed by a 4th vehicle. While investigating the crash, officers discovered the driver was in possession of drug paraphernalia. He was issued a summons for the possession through the Clayton Municipal court.

Later Sunday morning, hotel employees contacted the CPD after finding a man inside the hotel kitchen. When confronted by the staff, the man attempted to punch an employee. The man was removed from the property & banned from returning.

Finally, while investigating a report of a subject refusing to pay for his meal Sunday night, officers discovered an active warrant for the man's arrest for a felony probation violation. The man was arrested & before securing him in a patrol vehicle, officers searched his clothing & belongings. At the time of his arrest, the man was in possession of drug paraphernalia, multiple cell phone cases (still attached to the rack from a store) & several forms of identification & credit/debit cards not issued to him. Those items were seized as evidence & the investigation continues.

Anyone with information related to these or other investigations is asked to contact the CPD at (314)-645-3000.

Until next week, stay safe!

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