ST. CLAIR COUNTY, Mo. — The St. Clair County Sheriff's Department is investigating three robberies that happened within three days and span back to Dec. 20.
Police said they added patrols to transit stations after a string of armed robberies on the MetroLink last week. The suspect is not in custody.
5 On Your Side spoke to MetroLink riders who take buses or trains in the Metro East Tuesday. Some said they would never take the train at night, which is when the series of armed robberies happened.
"I kind of be scared to be on the trains," Elaine Lumpford, a MetroLink rider from Belleville, Illinois, said. "But at night, it's a 'no no.'"
The most recent robbery occurred on Saturday, Dec. 23 at about 11:50 p.m., when one person at the Belleville station was shot and sent to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Just a few days before, on Dec. 20, the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department received a call about a man on a westbound train who pulled out a black handgun and stole money and personal items from a woman.
"You don't really see me on the trains or the buses no more," Lumpford said. "I catch the Flyer because I feel safe."
The Flyer helps connect riders to MetroLink through the St. Clair County Transit District's bus system.
The next day, it happened again.
On Thursday, Dec. 21 at about 10:30 p.m., a robbery occurred on a westbound MetroLink train.
The sheriff's department said in each of the robberies it is believed the suspect is the same man. The department released a photo of him with a woman of interest.
"The Metro Transit System moves millions of people each year and our state-of-the-art Real-Time Camera Centers technology allows us to provide the images released to law enforcement," Kevin Scott, general manager of security for Bi-State Development, said in a statement on Tuesday.
5 On Your Side asked several riders whether they are currently worried about riding on public transportation in the Metro East.
Cedric Cystrunk from East. St. Louis said, "'No,' because I have full trust in my St. Clair County Sheriff and my security guards. They keep me safe here."
Another rider who lives about five minutes from the Fairview Heights MetroLink stop said he takes the bus or train every day. However, he wanted to remain anonymous when discussing whether or not he was surprised by the armed robbery reports.
"No, because there are a lot of homeless people who will be up here at night or during the day," the rider said. "I try to look out for them. I used to work at Subway, I used to bring Subway sandwiches to make them leave."
"Our agency will take every step necessary to identify and locate these suspects and prosecute them for their actions," the department said in a statement regarding the string of incidents.
"They always saying they're going to do something, they need to step up security," Lumpford added. "They need to do things that they're going to do and stick to it."
Additional officers and patrols are posted at MetroLink stations where the incidents happened.
Police said the suspect(s) are considered armed and dangerous.
If anyone does have information about the robberies, they should call the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department at 618-825-2051.
The St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department provided the following statement regarding the issue:
St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department is committed to providing a safe transit system to all riders of the Metrolink system. Although it is unfortunate when violent crimes happen anywhere in our community, our agency will take every step necessary to identify and locate these suspects and prosecute them for their actions. We have worked with Metro Public Safety during this investigation, and they have provided additional resources to increase the number of officers at locations throughout the light rail system. Anyone who can identify this suspect or has any information that would be helpful in this investigation is asked to contact CENCOM Dispatch at 618-825-2051.
