Granite City man charged in home invasion that led to shooting
A Granite City man has been charged with multiple crimes after police say he used a replica handgun in an attempted carjacking and home invasion in unincorporated Belleville on Christmas Eve.
Steven M. Madden, 22, was charged with home invasion with a firearm, aggravated robbery and aggravated battery to a police officer on Tuesday evening, a news release from St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department Capt. Bruce Fleshren stated.
At 4:22 p.m. Tuesday, deputies were called to a burglary in progress at an apartment at 10 Elmway Court. When they arrived, they found Madden with two gunshot wounds at the building.
According to Fleshren, Madden had attempted to carjack a woman’s vehicle in the parking lot of the apartment complex. When this failed, he fled into the building and broke through an apartment window, then held several people inside the apartment at gunpoint.
Ronald Freeman, a neighbor who lives next door to where the home invasion occurred, heard the commotion and entered the apartment. According to Fleshren, Freeman is a 12-year veteran officer from the Bel-Ridge, Missouri, Police Department.
Freeman identified himself as an officer and ordered Madden to drop the weapon, Fleshren said. When Madden refused, Freeman shot him twice. Madden ran and threw the replica handgun at Freeman’s face, causing Freeman to suffer minor facial injuries.
No one else was injured in the incident, Fleshren said. Police did not have a motive on Tuesday evening.
“While the carjacking victim and apartment residents were terrified during this event, it was later learned that the handgun that Madden was brandishing was a replica pellet pistol,” Fleshren said in the release. “The charges remain the same if you display or brandish a replica in a manner that would lead someone to believe that it was in fact a real firearm.”
Judge Jeffrey Watson set Madden’s bond at $1 million. He remained in a St. Louis hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound on Tuesday evening, Fleshren said. When Madden is released, he will be extradited to Illinois.
The St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s Office will conduct a follow-up review of the use of force in the incident.
This story was originally published December 25, 2019 at 10:05 AM.
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