File this under “World’s Dumbest Criminals.”
Two St. Louis, Missouri, police officers were in their fully marked police vehicle on Saturday when a man stepped into traffic, walked up to the passenger side of the vehicle, and pointed a handgun at the officers in an attempt to carjack the vehicle.
The officers were responding to a call of shots fired when the incident happened, FOX 2 reported. A police summary of the incident that the “officers were able to maneuver out of harm’s way while the suspect simultaneously discovered he was attempting to carjack a fully marked police car. The suspect took off running.”
Assisting officers were able to locate the suspect and take him into custody.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Tuesday that prosecutors have declined to file charges against the man, even though the St. Louis Police Department (SLPD) sought charges of first-degree robbery, armed criminal action, and resisting arrest. Evita Caldwell, a spokeswoman for the SLPD, confirmed to the Post-Dispatch that prosecutors refused to file charges.
A spokeswoman for Circuit Attorney Kimberly Gardner told KSDK that the case was still “under investigation” and declined to tell the outlet why charges hadn’t been filed. The outlet also noted that the man who was arrested in the case “is currently facing charges for several incidents over the past few years in St. Louis and Jefferson County, including domestic assault, violating an order of protection and first-degree property damage.”
Carjackings have increased during the pandemic, The Daily Wire has previously reported. In 2021, carjackings in D.C. reportedly increased 74% between January and July 12 over the same period in 2020.
“Mayor Muriel Bowser has not responded to multiple requests for comment on the crimes and inquiries on how to combat them, but D.C. police revealed they launched a carjacking task force using ‘bait cars’ to catch suspects in the city,” Fox News reported at the time.
In January 2022, six teenagers aged 13 through 17 were arrested in the nation’s capital for separate carjackings, The Daily Wire reported.
In December 2021, Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) was walking to her SUV “when she said two black males approached her and demanded her keys. After she handed over her keys, one man drove her vehicle followed by the second man in another SUV,” The Daily Wire reported.
Later that same day, five suspects – four men and one woman – were apprehended for the crime. Scanlon’s office released a statement thanking police for their hard work:
Wednesday afternoon around 2:45 p.m., Congresswoman Scanlon was carjacked at gunpoint in FDR Park following a meeting at that location. The Congresswoman was physically unharmed. She thanks the Philadelphia Police Department for their swift response, and appreciates the efforts of both the Sergeant at Arms in D.C. and her local police department for coordinating with Philly PD to ensure her continued safety.