Missouri man charged in attempted burglary of East St. Louis pawn shop
A 47-year-old Florissant, Mo., man has been charged with burglary and three counts of aggravated fleeing and eluding in connection with an attempt to burglarize an East St. Louis pawn shop.
Donte A. Hunter, whose last known address was 12125 Partridge Run Drive in Florissant, was being held Saturday in lieu of $100,000 bail. The bail order was signed by St. Clair County Circuit Judge Robert Haida.
The warrant from the St. Clair County state’s attorney’s office says Hunter “committed the offense of burglary.” The warrant, authorizing police to arrest him, accuses Hunter of entering “Fay’s Pawn Shop with the intent to commit a theft.”
East St. Louis Detective Ronald McClellan said that on June 2 at 1:36 a.m., an off-duty East St. Louis police officer called in a burglary in progress at Fay’s Pawn Shop at 4339 Collinsville Ave.
When officers arrived, McClellan said, they saw vehicles parked in the street in front of Fay’s.
Two drivers attempted to flee, and officers followed them, McClellan said.
The first vehicle went across the Poplar Street Bridge into St. Louis. The other vehicle fled to Third Street at Trendley where it went the wrong way, crossed Trendley and drove into some weeds. “He abandoned the vehicle at that point, “ McClellan said.
McClellan said as thieves fled the business, they shot at a motorist who drove up and couldn’t get around the suspects’ cars. No one was injured.
McClellan said Hunter was arrested when a Fairmont City officer saw him walking down Front Street in East St. Louis and noticed he had weeds and branches on his shoes and clothes. He called East St. Louis police, and they arrested Hunter near the Casino Queen, McClellan said.
Hunter denied he was in the car that crashed, McClellan said.
“He said during the riots in St. Louis someone stole his car. He believed they brought it to East St. Louis and he was in the area looking for his vehicle,” McClellan said.
Police also found a gun they believe Hunter was carrying near the area where he fled when trying to escape police, McClellan said.
The detective said police were able to respond so quickly to the pawn shop attempted burglary because extra officers were on the street at the time.
He said East St. Louis had identified Facebook posts that had threatened looting in the city. As a result, some officers were working overtime, while officers from nearby areas and auxiliary officers were on hand to help protect the city’s businesses in case of looting, McClellan said.
McClellan said he was grateful for the additional help.
East St. Louis currently has a nightly curfew as a precaution in case of unrest growing out of nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis after a white officer pinned him to the ground with his knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Four officers were fired and charged in Floyd’s death.
