Six arrested in latest task force sweep

A Cape Girardeau teenager was among a half-dozen people arrested Wednesday when the Southeast Missouri Violent Crimes Task Force patrolled the city in search of wanted suspects.

Elijah Burleson, 18, was charged with first-degree robbery and armed criminal action in connection with a robbery at the AM PM convenience store, 1101 William St., the Cape Girardeau Police Department reported Thursday evening.

He is being held in the Cape Girardeau County Jail on $100,000 bond.

It was not clear when the robbery occurred. As of Friday afternoon, Burleson's charges had not been listed in online court records.

The task force, which includes officers from Cape Girardeau and three other Southeast Missouri communities -- Charleston, Poplar Bluff and Sikeston -- patrols areas of each town with high rates of gun violence.

Task force member agencies are assisting the Cape Girardeau/Bollinger County Major Case Squad with an intelligence-sharing operation as the squad looks at possible similarities among several recent shootings, the Cape Girardeau Police Department reported Wednesday.

Two of the shootings under investigation were fatal.

Joshua Edward Dibert, 34, was killed June 20 in his car near Good Hope Street and Henderson Avenue.

Eight days later, Anthony Hempstead, 26, was shot to death in the 800 block of Jefferson Avenue.

Hempstead's death -- Cape Girardeau's second homicide of the year -- came hours after a nonfatal shooting in the 1100 block of Cousin Street that sent a 28-year-old man to the hospital. Deion Miguel Phillips, 18, has been charged in connection with the shooting on Cousin Street.

The victim in that shooting, 28-year-old Richard Jenkins, was among those arrested in the latest task force outing, a Cape Girardeau police spokesman reported Wednesday.

Jenkins faces charges of unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of a controlled substance and resisting arrest in connection with an April 1 incident, said Darin Hickey, public information officer for the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

Jenkins' arrest was not related to the shooting, Hickey said.

No arrests have been made in either homicide, but in an interview Wednesday with the Southeast Missourian, members of Hempstead's family said they believed his death was a misguided attempt at retaliation for the shooting on Cousin Street.

epriddy@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

1101 William St., Cape Girardeau, MO