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Moving Helper Drives Off With $1,340 Worth of Items

A round-up of odd and unusual crimes in the St. Louis area.

For the "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" File

A Valley Park woman who gave a ride to a couple, one of whom was walking with the aid of a walker, on a cold, windy day Nov. 11, had her car stolen and subsequently wrecked by the man she was trying to help. St. Louis County Police said the woman gave a ride to a 34-year-old man, who was using a broken walker, and his female companion.

The Good Samaritan woman offered to give them a ride and told them she had a walker at her home, which she no longer needed, and would give it to them. She drove the couple to her home and left her keys in the car with the motor running. St. Louis County Police said the man then jumped into the driver's seat and took the car. When the woman returned with the walker and two coats for the couple, her 2009 Ford Escape was gone.

Family Fingered Following Funeral

Almost $7,000 was reported stolen after a Barnhart woman invited family members over to her house after her husband's funeral on Nov. 10. The victim told officers with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department that she noticed several items missing after family members left her home. Among the items missing were $600 in cash and several pieces of jewelry, including a man's gold wedding band.

Moving Violation

A man who enlisted help in moving into a new residence Oct. 22 on River Road, Fenton, ended up as the victim of a theft as one of his helpers drove off in his car with numerous of his personal items. After loading up his personal items and arriving at the new residence, a woman helper drove off in the man's car that was filled with his personal items, valued at $1,339. The man was able to reach the woman by phone, asking her to return with his vehicle and the items. She reportedly returned some of the belongings and the car but left again and would not answer any subsequent phone calls. Police located the woman and she was subsequently arrested on charges unrelated to the "moving day" incident.

Chicken Thief Grabs 75 Birds

A man hired to watch over chickens at a farm on Old Highway 141 in Fenton, stole 75 of the birds instead, according to police.

The theft occurred on Oct. 30 and followed a dispute between the property owner and the man who was to watch over the chickens, police said.

No Return Policy

A thief made it easy for police to track him down after he broke into several cars in Oakville in November—he dropped his identification card at the scene of one of the car break-ins. Police tracked him down and searched his room, where they found a variety of stolen items, including six GPS units, three iPods, a Dell laptop computer, a credit card and several other items. Police also found oxycodone pills. He was arrested.

A St. Charles man suspected a man he was selling marijuana to was an undercover police officer, and gave the buyer his money back. It turns out the buyer indeed was an undercover drug task force detective, and he didn't take refunds. Instead, the detective searched the man's premises a week later and found enough evidence to charge him with distribution of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.

Meat is His Undoing

A man who was standing in his back yard on Melton Avenue in Arnold was attacked by his neighbor’s poodle. The dog bit the man on the lower right leg causing a large laceration. Animal control responded and seized the dog and issued its owner a summons for a leash law violation.

A University City man faces criminal charges after police said he tried to steal porterhouse steaks from a  grocery store. The man put two packages of porterhouse steaks down his pants. He recently had been released from jail after serving a one-year sentence for stealing meat.

Office Furniture Caper

A building superintendent and three accomplices are accused Nov. 15 of stealing $75,000 in office furniture from a company that was changing headquarters. Maryland Heights Police said they caught the four after the superintendent listed the furniture on Craigslist.

Stolen Buick Exchanged For Stolen Chevy

Five people who are accused of stealing cars from two St. Louis automobile dealerships, left one of the stolen vehicles behind at one of the dealerships. Eleven cars were stolen in all, most of which were subsequently parked in various location in the city and county. One of the cars stolen from the Lou Fusz Buick GMC dealership, however, was recovered at the Johnny Londoff Chevrolet dealership in Florissant.

Five people were indicted by a St. Louis County grand jury Thursday for 11 car thefts at Lou Fusz Buick GMC Oct. 11.

Trashed Patron Trashes Can

An intoxicated man was refused entry in Ameristar Casino around 2:20 a.m. Nov. 17 and destroyed a trash can.

Chump Change

An unknown person entered victim’s garage and took approximately $2 in various change from the vehicle. Nothing else was missing.

Lug Nut Thief

Thirty-two chrome lug nuts, valued at more than $300, were stolen off a vehicle Nov. 10 at Lakeside Plaza in Lake Saint Louis.

Movie Talker

One moviegoer punched another in the face Nov. 12 at the Great Escape Theater, in Fenton, for talking too much during the movie.

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Note Article
Just a short thought to get the word out quickly about anything in your neighborhood.
Share something with your neighbors. Write a new post... What's up? Make an announcement, speak your mind, or sell something
Frank Johnson (Editor) June 17, 2013 at 03:18 pm
Hi Viola, I posted this on our Facebook page and received an additional question from our readers.Read More On what street/in what area of Glencoe did Leo go missing?
JOYCE COULTER June 18, 2013 at 02:30 pm
Hi! I sure hope he gets found quickly... we have a tortoise exactly like this.. but much smaller,Read More who is approximately a year old... they can be very fast... so sorry he got away from you! Ours is named, "Turpeester"... I'm sure whatever he is doing he is having a fun time, out running around... I will pray for Leo making it back to you!!! Good luck!
6/16/13
Ryan Thomas June 18, 2013 at 05:32 pm
The owner plans to harvest corn on the property.
Southern Gent June 18, 2013 at 05:48 pm
Thanks, Frank. Makes sense.
Wildwood Tax Payer/Voter June 19, 2013 at 08:55 am
The owner, of course, should do whatever he/she wishes to do on his own property. I'm simply curiousRead More about Wildwood's Planning and Public Work's "guess." How does farming a piece of property instead of allowing it to sit vacant actually decrease its tax assessments? It doesn't change the zoning. What is the zoning of the property? If residential, how much corn do I need to plant on my extra property to decrease my property assessment?
Kurt Greenbaum (Editor) June 6, 2013 at 03:19 pm
Matthew, how interesting. What got you interested in participating in this? Do you have pictures ofRead More your preparations for it?
Charles C Smack May 31, 2013 at 11:38 am
Just What we need. Another liberal info board that limits their scope to narrow, progressiveRead More solutions and topics.
Missouri Lt. Governor Peter Kinder and Representative Tim Jones.
Charles C Smack May 31, 2013 at 11:41 am
I'll never vote for Mr.Jones again. He was a great representative but he has not been aggressiveRead More enough on issues that hurt Missourians he represents, in my opinion.