ST. LOUIS — A United States District Judge has sentenced a St. Louis man to 30 months in prison.
35-year-old Clarence Brown pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Officers patrolling the Greater Ville area were advised that a stolen vehicle was traveling eastbound on Natural Bridge Avenue from Kingshighway Boulevard.
Soon after, officers witnessed the stolen vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed in a parking lane before parking in the area of Blair Avenue and Monroe Avenue.
The driver was identified as Brown who re-entered the vehicle and began driving northbound on Blair Avenue.
Officers deployed spike strips which Brown drove over. Detectives witnessed Brown throw a gun out of the passenger side window while continuing to drive.
Brown eventually drove in the opposite direction of travel and hit an innocent driver head-on.
He also ignored several police commands to stop resisting before being apprehended after a short foot pursuit.
A computer search revealed that Brown was a felon and had an active warrant for his arrest.
The gun Brown threw out the car window was also recovered.
It was a Glock 23, .40 caliber pistol containing nine live 9mm cartridges.
The pistol had been reported stolen from a home in Creve Coeur, Missouri on October 16, 2019.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated this case.
Police from several counties in Missouri have reported a recent rise in car thefts, not just in St. Louis city.
St. Louis County Police reported 1,304 total vehicle thefts in 2019 and 1,638 total vehicle thefts in 2020, which amounts to an increase of approximately 25.6%.
In unincorporated St. Charles County, there were 88 car thefts in 2019 and in 2020 there were 148.
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