Three arrested after alleged assault with vehicle in Sikeston

SIKESTON, Mo. -- Three people were arrested following an incident Sunday in which they allegedly struck a pedestrian with a vehicle and tried to rob him, according to a news release from the Sikeston Department of Public Safety.

Sikeston police were called to Frisco and Dorothy streets around 9:30 a.m. Sunday. The victim told police a vehicle struck him, then circled back around to where he was. He said a passenger in the vehicle exited with a stick, but the vehicle and its occupants fled when the victim called police on his cell phone.

Around 6 p.m. Sunday police got a tip on the vehicle's location. Police stopped the vehicle and arrested three people. According to the news release, the vehicle had damage consistent with the victim's account of which part of the vehicle struck him. Police said they believed the three people in the vehicle were trying to rob the pedestrian.

Christopher Wayne Roper, 18, of Dexter, Mo., and Justin Patterson, 17, of Sikeston, were charged with first-degree assault, first-degree robbery and armed criminal action by the Scott County Prosecutor's office. They were in the Scott County jail on a $100,000 bond. The third suspect was a 16-year-old from Benton, Mo., whose name is being withheld because he is a juvenile.

The victim received only minor injuries in the assault.