ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — A suspect has been arrested and charged for shooting toward a St. Louis County police detective earlier this month, police said Wednesday.
On Dec. 8., a detective had just left the scene of a homicide investigation in Pagedale and was on his way back to St. Louis County police headquarters, police said. The detective was at the intersection of Kingsland and Julian in University City when the passenger of a silver Ford Mustang leaned out and fired several shots toward him, according to a probable cause statement released by the department.
The detective was not injured; his unmarked police car was struck three times.
The Mustang drove off. Police later stopped pulled over the Mustang, which was occupied only by the driver.
Investigators looked through the driver's cell phone records and found a phone number that was called several times from the St. Louis County Justice Center and identified the suspect, 25-year-old Larry Dixson.
Dixson confessed to the shooting but said he did not realize at the time of the shooting that he had shot toward an officer, the statement says. Dixson said he had been near the scene of the Pagedale homicide because of a connection to the victim in that crime and believed the detective's vehicle was also connected.
Dixson faces charges of first-degree assault, armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon and unlawful use of a weapon. He is being held on a $500,000 cash-only bond.
The detective is 37 years old and has 14 years of experience working in law enforcement.
