St. Louis sheriff deputy robbed, carjacked at gunpoint during security job

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (KMOV) - A St. Louis sheriff deputy was robbed and carjacked of his personal vehicle and items after midnight Tuesday.

The St. Louis Sheriff’s Office reports its deputy was working security for a Blues game Monday night at the Enterprise Center when two young, armed Black men robbed the deputy after his shift sometime before 1 a.m. Tuesday.

The sheriff’s office reports the deputy’s personal car was leaking coolant, so the deputy parked his vehicle outside the parking garage next to the arena while he waited for a tow truck.

“One gentlemen stuck the gun to his head and said give up the gun,” Lt. Michael Gamache told News 4. “As he got out, he had his hands up, you know, ‘Hey, don’t shoot.’ You know, ‘take my car.’ They noticed he was in uniform. We don’t believe they knew he was law enforcement at the time until after he got out of the vehicle. Once they retrieved his duty weapon from him, they kind of pushed him off and both jumped into his car and took off down the street.”

Neither suspect is in custody as of Tuesday night, but authorities say they ditched the deputy’s cell phone in East St. Louis off Highway-64 in the eastbound lane.

“I couldn’t go back to sleep,” sheriff Vernon Betts said. “Giving me the information, that just happened kind of sent me in a tizzy. More than likely he would have fired at them as we are trained to do so. But just the fact that somebody would rob a law enforcement officer--that’s being kind of bold.”

Batts told News 4 he’s considering allowing deputies to take home radios because law enforcement can respond faster than just calling 911.