Clayton Weekly Police Incident Report For May 10-16

From the City of Clayton:

May 17, 2021

For the reporting period of Monday, May 10th – Sunday, May 16th, CPD officers responded to 480 calls for service. Those calls included 10 automobile accidents & 25 calls to assist the CFD. Among those calls were the following incidents:

After boarding the wrong MetroBus Tuesday morning, a man became furious with the driver. The driver asked the man to exit the bus with her to determine which bus he needed to take. Instead of leaving peacefully, he began yelling & repeatedly kicked an exit door, causing the glass to shatter. Witnesses last saw the man headed eastbound on a MetroLink train.

Walgreens employees reported a man entered a restricted area of the store Tuesday afternoon & stole multiple packs of cigarettes. He was seen leaving the parking lot in a silver passenger vehicle.

Employees returning to work Wednesday morning found a man sleeping on the floor of their office building. The man was recently issued a formal trespass warning after building management reported similar behavior. Officers arrested the man for trespassing & he was given an upcoming court date through the Clayton municipal court.

Early Thursday morning, a restaurant employee returned to his vehicle & discovered someone had broken out a passenger window. He suspects a former co-worker is responsible for the damage.

A contractor left his truck unattended on Southmoor Thursday afternoon while he worked on a residence. When he returned 2 hours later, he discovered 2 of his toolboxes containing various handheld tools & power tools had been stolen from the truck bed. No witnesses or suspects have been identified & the investigation continues.

Friday afternoon, 2 men stole approximately $200 worth of laundry detergent from Walgreens. Surveillance footage showed the men exited the store with 2 shopping carts full of merchandise & made no attempt to purchase the items. Witnesses last saw the men load the items into a gray pickup truck before fleeing the area.

A woman fell victim to a phone scam Friday afternoon when she provided her social security number to a fraudster. The caller impersonated a representative of the DEA & told her a warrant had been issued for her arrest. Although she was not defrauded of any funds, the scammer convinced the woman to verbally verify her social security number. The call has been reported to the federal trade commission & she will monitor her financial accounts for suspicious activity.

Please understand that law enforcement & other federal agencies will never threaten to suspend your social security number. Further, we will not ask you to verify sensitive information over the phone. For additional information on identifying & reporting phone scams, please visit: Phone Scams | FTC Consumer Information

Later Friday afternoon, a Clayton Public Works employee was working in Shaw Park when he observed 7 juveniles exiting the ice rink building. The juveniles were identified & advised the property is currently closed to the public.

After discovering a man had purchased items with a counterfeit $100 bill Friday evening, Straub’s employees contacted the CPD. At the time of the purchase, the cashier believed the customer was intoxicated. She stated she was too distracted by his behavior to immediately realize the bill was fake. Officers spoke with the man Saturday & he claimed he was unaware the money was counterfeit. He claimed he had obtained the cash from a bank in Florida. He will be contacting the store to make arrangements to reimburse them for the transaction.

A witness observed a passenger vehicle strike a street sign at Shaw Park Dr. & S. Meramec Ave. early Saturday morning. The vehicle continued westbound on Shaw Park Dr. & was last seen at the intersection of S. Brentwood Blvd. Debris found in the area returns to a silver 2021 Kia Forte. The investigation is ongoing.

A CPD officer was in the 6700 block of Clayton Rd. just before 6am Saturday when a Walgreens employee notified him a man had just stolen a container of lighters from the store. The officer located the man nearby & when asked about the merchandise, the man claimed he had paid for the items with a credit card. Further investigation revealed he had not purchased the items & the merchandise was returned to the store. The man was arrested for shoplifting & issued an upcoming court date through the Clayton municipal court.

Later Saturday morning, a woman reported she believed her ex-boyfriend had followed her to work in the 6700 block of Clayton Rd. She has an active order of protection against the man & he is prohibited from having any contact or communication with her. While she spoke with officers, she received several incoming calls from a cellphone number associated with the man. Officers were unable to locate the man for questioning & investigation continues.

Officers responded to the area of Topton & Maryland late Sunday night for a report of a 2 vehicle crash. While on the scene, officers discovered one of the drivers was intoxicated. Further investigation resulted in his arrest for DWI.

Finally, our thanks to everyone who joined Chief Smith during his mobile check-in/bicycle patrol through Ward I Saturday afternoon & to the Hi-Pointe DeMun neighborhood for inviting our officers to visit Saturday night. We enjoyed the chance to spend time with everyone! Chief Smith will be conducting another patrol through town soon, so be sure to check back for details.

Until next week, stay safe!

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