Brendan Watson
Tuesday evening, a search began for a carjacking suspect who had fled from Washington University and local police earlier that day, after being stopped in a stolen car in the Givens Hall parking lot on the Hilltop campus.
According to police, on Monday at 2:00 p.m., a man followed a woman to her car at the Galleria in Clayton. After getting in her car, a silver sport utility vehicle, and ordering her to drive to the southern part of St. Louis, the carjacker became lost, and later allowed her to leave the vehicle in the Collinsville area of the city. She was permitted to take her possessions with her.
Police caught up with the carjacker the next day, on the WU campus. On Tuesday afternoon, an officer from St. Ann was transporting a prisoner when the officer spotted the sport utility vehicle that had been reported stolen following the carjacking. The officer then followed the vehicle into the Givens Hall parking lot on the Hilltop campus, where the driver stopped.
When the officer approached the vehicle, the driver exited the car and fled north, parallel to Skinker Boulevard, and continued off the WU campus beyond Forest Park Parkway and into University City. The passenger of the stolen vehicle, however, did not escape. Soon after the driver fled, an officer from the WU Police Department arrived, and the WUPD and St. Ann officers took the passenger of the vehicle into custody. The suspect was released to the Richmond Heights Police Department, which then organized a search of the area for the driver, who police believe to be the original carjacker.
Richmond Heights police officers continued to search the area north of the WU campus for several hours, as officers from the University City, WU, and Saint Louis police departments assisted. Even with the use of several canine units and over a dozen officers, no signs of the second suspect were discovered.
Several local residents stood outside their homes to witness the search.
Less than an hour after the suspects first parked the vehicle, detectives from Richmond Heights had taped off the location surrounding the SUV and began searching for evidence. No information has been released regarding results of the search.
The passenger who was arrested has been charged with second degree tampering (riding in a stolen vehicle). No warrants have yet been issued.
According to WUPD Chief Donald Strom, no university students, faculty, or staff were involved in the incident.
To contact Bernell Dorrough, email him at [email protected]