BARNHART, Mo. — Cpl. Chris Gearon was on the job last Friday when an emergency sounded.
"We received a call for a potential robbery and an elderly female was attacked," Gearon said.
Investigators said 33-year-old Steven Deering first attacked a woman outside a boxing gym in Maplewood and then took off in her car to Haven Hill Road in Jefferson County.
Gearon said he was headed there when he learned the wanted suspect allegedly assaulted a second woman inside her Barnhart home and stole her car.
Deering then reportedly drove a short distance and broke into another family's home.
"This was the worst day of their lives," Gearon said.
Investigators said a terrified grandmother barricaded herself and her three grandchildren in a back bedroom as Deering roamed around their home.
"It looks like he broke two windows on the house. The door he essentially chased the family through was locked. When I first got there, everything was quiet," Gearon said.
A member of the Jefferson County SWAT Team, Gearon then kicked in the family's front door.
"I knew that's what I had to do to end the nightmare that this poor family was having," Gearon said.
Suddenly, he spotted Deering.
"He was in the kitchen and a ton of weapons were accessible," Gearon said.
However, he said Deering didn't grab anything and surrendered.
"I gave him some direction and instruction to exit the house and lay on his stomach, so I can put him in a safer position so that I can put him in handcuffs," Gearon said. "One of the things I initially asked him once I got him outside was 'Who are you?' And he shouted, 'I am the Messiah.' And then, he asked if I was a demon to stop him."
He wasn't. He was a fearless, dedicated deputy doing his job.
"We're all people and we all care about each other, and it was a great experience to be a part of that, something like that," Gearon said. "Everybody's saying how good of a job I did throughout this whole thing, but really, I think most of the credit should go to that grandmother. She grabbed her grandkids, she ran, locked the doors behind her, and they all hid in the bedroom. I understand she was prepared to fight if it got to that point."
As of Tuesday, Deering was in jail on a $150,000 cash-only bond.
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