Two Cairo men, one juvenile charged after allegedly following woman home to rob her

Two Cairo, Ill., men followed a 70-year-old woman from Wal-Mart in Cape Girardeau to her Themis Street home to steal her purse May 11, according to charges filed by Cape Girardeau County prosecutors.

David J. Pierce, 19, and Lavar N. Pierce, 18, face a single count each of second-degree robbery. The charge is a felony, punishable by up to 15 years in state prison. Warrants for both men were issued Monday.

A juvenile also faces charges in juvenile court in connection with the robbery, said Sgt. Barry Hovis, a spokesman for the Cape Girardeau Police Department.

None of the suspects is in custody, Hovis said.

According to a sworn statement filed with the charges, the Pierces and the juvenile gave conflicting accounts of their involvement in the theft.

The victim in the case told police she had noticed a maroon sport utility vehicle following her from Wal-Mart. When she turned onto Themis Street in the west side of Cape Girardeau, the SUV followed but passed by when she turned into her driveway. As she was unloading groceries, the woman told police, her purse was ripped off her right shoulder and the thief jumped into the SUV.

The SUV was stopped at Silver Springs Road and William Street, where the victim identified the juvenile suspect and the vehicle.

The juvenile told Detective Darren Estes that he had been invited to ride with the Pierces from Cairo, Ill., to Cape Girardeau, where the trio dropped a woman off on Sprigg Street, then went to Wal-Mart. Once at the west-side store, the Pierces said "they needed to find a woman so they could get some money for gas to drive back to Cairo," Estes wrote in the sworn statement.

The juvenile admitted taking the purse because the Pierces had told him that if he did not, they would have to stay overnight in Cape Girardeau. The juvenile said the Pierces went through the purse when he returned with it and gave him $10 of the $40 found there.

Both David Pierce and Lavar Pierce blamed the juvenile for planning the theft, directing them on which car to follow and that, while the juvenile gave both of them money after the incident, they were unaware the money was stolen.

David Pierce told officers that the juvenile directed Lavar Pierce to drive to West Park Mall, where he got out, crouched behind a truck and returned, giving David Pierce $23 and Lavar Pierce $15. All three went into the mall and bought dental grills and sunglasses, David Pierce told police, according the sworn statement.

Lavar Pierce denied accepting any money from the theft.

The purse was discovered under a car in the mall parking lot.

Bringing the Pierces back to Cape Girardeau County for trial could require formal extradition hearings once they are arrested by Illinois authorities, Hovis said.

Both purse snatchings and robberies where the victim is stalked from a store to home are rare in Cape Girardeau, Hovis said. "I would consider it very uncommon here," he said. "The victim was very upset about it."

rkeller@semissourian.com

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