Man Who Tracked His Stolen Car, Shot Alleged Thief Faces Charges

ST. CHARLES, MO — Police say 25-year-old Brandon Cauthen used a tracking app to locate his stolen car, then shot a man he believed to be the thief. He is charged with assault and armed criminal action with bail set at $100,000.

The Post-Dispatch reports that Cauthen left his car running in the 5000 block of O'Fallon Lakes Drive in O'Fallon, Mo., and returned to find it missing. He tracked the vehicle to the 800 block of South Sixth Street in St. Charles, between Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery and Frontier Park, and fired nine shots at a 41-year-old man he found inside the car.

Cauthen told police he believed the man was armed, but police did not find a gun on the alleged car thief, who was wounded in the shoulder and is expected to survive.

Cauthen's girlfriend and a toddler were with him when he confronted the alleged thief.

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