Smash-and-grab robberies increase in St. Louis region

ST. LOUIS -- Police and business owners in the St. Louis region are fighting back against an increase in smash-and-grab robberies that have sometimes involved thieves ramming into stores with stolen vehicles.

At least 14 such robberies have been reported in the St. Louis County and St. Louis region since April 25, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Thursday. In about half a dozen of those cases, thieves drove vehicles into businesses to gain entrance. In others, they used such things as bricks to break windows, quickly grab as much merchandise as they could, and then flee.

St. Louis County Chief Tim Fitch has authorized more helicopter patrols to track the thieves.

"They know we won't chase them if they're in stolen cars, so we need to make sure the helicopter is up late at night and ready to follow them by air, because chasing them by car is going to get somebody killed," Fitch said. "And I've never seen anybody outrun the helicopter yet."

Some business owners are installing heavy posts, called bollards, to prevent vehicles from ramming through large windows and doors at their properties.

One victim, Pang Lee, said she would install the bollards after thieves drove a car through the front of her St. Louis business, Kings Beauty Supply, on Monday and stole thousands of dollars worth of hair extensions. A surveillance video showed two masked men ransacking the store.

"They're already on order," she said of the bollards.

Cahokia Police Chief James Jones said Wednesday that he was optimistic the arrest of a man from East St. Louis could lead to additional suspects and close cases in St. Louis and St. Louis County. The suspect is believed to be one of three who drove a blue truck into Midwest Petroleum and stole liquor and cigarettes.

Fitch said he believed the smash-and-grab thieves will be caught soon.

"It's not a hard crime to solve, it's just a matter of how and when they get caught," he said. "They're playing with fire, because one of these times they're not going to beat the police out of there."

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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, http://www.stltoday.com