08/26/2025
Hello friends and neighbors. Welcome back for a small peek into the world of not-so-make believe that most folks have the opportunity to forget exists…. If it weren’t for reading our weekly reminder. So sit down, grab a refreshing drink and loosen up your scrolling thumb as this is The Weekly Rundown for June 22nd through June 30th, 2025.
Do you need to let us know that some hoodlum has drawn a part of his anatomy on park equipment? Did you know that we have an app for that? On Sunday afternoon our officers received a tip from the Crestwood MO PD app that "someone has spray painted a p***s on the water fountain by the tennis courts by the playground." At Sanders Park. Our normally art loving officer was severely disappointed when they arrived and saw what had been done. It has been suggested that the transgressor is either a very sub-par artist or had a very bad model to work from, maybe both….. maybe they need to go to the doctor and get that checked. Either way, we would like them to keep their obsession art at home or otherwise express themselves by legal means. Our officer went above and beyond by trying to remove the graffiti themselves, but true to form, it was something that just doesn’t go away. Crestwood Public Works was notified to bring something a little stronger to clean up this eyesore.
Monday made for an interesting day for our officers as they responded to Truman Middle School on Eddie and Park Road due to a man who had been trespassing on the school property. Not just a simple case of being on the property, but it was claimed that the man had been living in the school, which was apparent as this morning he had set up a cot in the building’s weight room, had placed fans pointed in the direction of his face, and was seen on security cameras entering the cafeteria and apparently helping himself to a meal as he exited with a plate of food. As is fairly normal during the summer months, there is currently construction going on in the building. Construction workers advised school staff that the subject had been in the building on Saturday, at least as early as 9:30 am but that they believed the man to be a staff member as he was wearing a green Lindbergh School District polo shirt. The assistant principal told officers that it was likely that the subject entered the school through the front doors as they had been left unlocked for the construction crew, and the cameras on the front of the building were temporarily down while the subject was in the school. Our investigators did what they do, and were able to positively identify the man, learned that he had been arrested on other charges and was in custody at the St. Louis County Jail. Crestwood officers made an appointment and made the trip to interview him. The man admitted that on Saturday, June 21, 2025, he entered Truman Middle School located at 12225 Eddie and Park Road through an unsecured side door. He added that he was homeless and seeking employment. He said he saw a sign he believed had been placed by the construction company performing work at the school, that indicated that they were hiring. He claimed that he entered the school in an attempt to locate and speak with a foreman regarding potential employment but was unsuccessful. He said the he remained in the school, so that he could sleep inside for the night. However, he denied consuming any food belonging to the school. He indicated that despite being homeless and not having employment, he only ate food he had brought with him, and which was stored in his backpack. Little did he know that our officers were still working on obtaining additional security video from inside the school. They were successful, and were even able to pin down where he got the Lindbergh Schools polo shirt….. taken from the school building’s lobby, and multiple times over the course of his illegal occupation retrieving and eating food from the school cafeteria. The school staff confirmed these items were not given to the man and thusly, stolen. The shirt and snacks value was estimated to be $115.00 ….. the shock value of finding an unhoused man living in the school while faking being a member of the staff… priceless. This makes me think just a little bit of the 80’s thriller/comedy movie “Hiding Out” with Jon Cryer (I had to look, and it is currently available for free through a major streaming outlet if you are so inclined).
Monday wasn’t ready to give up yet as officers responded to Fairview Automotive, located at 8750 Watson Road in reference to a stealing report. When they arrived, they met with the businesses’ administrative assistant who told them that between 8:00 pm and 11:00 pm on Saturday, June 21st, two hub caps had been stolen off the passenger side of a customer’s vehicle. Upon reviewing the video footage, on 06/21/25 at approximately 10:45 pm, a dark-colored sedan pulled onto the parking lot using the far east entrance. The vehicle traveled slowly through the parking lot before pulling into the spot alongside the customer’s vehicle. A subject then appears to be looking at his phone for a few moments before backing his vehicle up to the rear tire on the passenger side of the customer’s Cadillac. This subject then opened the driver's door of his vehicle, leaned out of view in the direction of the hub cap located on the rear passenger side of the customer’s vehicle, and then pops up back into view, placing the hub cap into his passenger seat. The subject then repeated this process with the front passenger hub cap on the customer’s Cadillac. The subject appeared to get spooked as the Metro Bus had stopped at the bus stop and he suddenly looked over his shoulder. The subject then closed his driver side door and drove out of the parking lot, turning eastbound onto Watson Road. The value of the two hub caps is $300.00. Hub cap thievery… 80’s movies and now 80’s crimes, definitely a Monday.
On Tuesday, June 24th around 11:15 am someone came to the police department to report that the tabs of their license plates had been stolen. The victim stated that she noticed them missing on Sunday but needed a police report to obtain new ones from the DMV. The victim was uncertain when they had been taken.
On Tuesday, June 24th around 1:30 pm officers responded to Proper Cannabis on Watson Rd for a report of a vehicle collision where one party had left the scene. One of the employees of the business stated that when she went to her vehicle, she noticed it had been struck by another vehicle, but there was no other vehicle there at the time. One thing that is pretty much a universal truth amongst “w**d shops” in Missouri, is that they have excellent video surveillance. The investigating officer reviewed of this excellent parking lot surveillance footage, and saw that at approximately 10:55 am, a black Mercedes pulled into the parking lot, attempted to back into a parking spot located next to hers and while doing so, the rear passenger side quarter panel of the Mercedes struck the back passenger side bumper of her vehicle. The employee stated the vehicle then pulled forward and backed into another parking spot, away from other vehicles. The employee stated that when she watched the video, she saw a man exit the vehicle and enter Proper Cannabis to shop, pay for his items, then exit and enter the black Mercedes, then exiting the parking lot without notifying any staff members of the accident. The officer observed scratches and a large dent on the rear passenger side bumper of the struck vehicle. This store patron was known to the employees and our officers attempted to contact him at home. He wasn’t there, but they made a second attempt the next day. While no one answered the door, the suspected vehicle was found in the driveway. After several other attempts at contact, the man eventually came to the police department to provide insurance information.
On Friday, around 1:45 am officers were dispatched to Arrowwood Drive for subjects allegedly tampering with a motor vehicle. It was reported that the subjects were attempting to gain entry into a patrol vehicle belonging to the St. Louis County Police Department. Dispatch advised the caller stated there were multiple subjects and they were in a four-door white sedan. It was learned that the vehicle was stolen out of St. Louis City. While one of our officers was responding to the call, they observed a four-door white sedan turn south onto Sappington Road off Rayburn Avenue. They broadcast this information and turned around to stop the vehicle. When the emergency lights and sirens were activated on our officer’s car, the suspect vehicle accelerated and drove through the red electric signal at Sappington Road and Watson Road, continuing south on Sappington Road. Having radios really helps here as Sunset Hills Police Officers picked up the vehicle in their city. The suspect vehicle eventually crashed at the intersection of Watson Road and Geyer Road, where three subjects, all juveniles, were taken into custody. That is team work making the dream work.
On Saturday, at around 11:00 am a reporting party came to the Crestwood Police Station to report she had been a victim of fraud. She stated that she was on her laptop computer and had logged into her Facebook account, when she noticed she had 15 unread messages in the "Messenger" icon located in the top corner of her screen. She noted that this was unusual and clicked the "Messenger" bubble to read the messages. She said that immediately after selecting the "Messenger" bubble on her screen, a "Microsoft Defender" notification popped up on the screen of her laptop, advising her that her laptop had been compromised. She stated that the pop up prompted her to call a phone number. When she called the phone number, she spoke with a subject who identified himself as "Victor" and he began instructing her to hit specific keys on the laptop to run "tests". Victor then instructed the victim over the phone to read back some text for the ‘test results’. She stated that she read it aloud, citing that the words were stating that she was under investigation for money laundering, possession of child po*******hy, and possession of large amounts of co***ne. Victor informed her that her identity had been stolen, and that he was going to transfer her to an agent with the "U.S. Treasury Department" so he could explain the charges against her in detail. The “U.S. Treasury Department” officer’s name that was given as David Freeman. He explained that she had federal charges against her and that the government would soon be freezing her assets. She was alarmed by this but "Officer Freeman" advised that there was an "opportunity" to "safeguard her assets." Per the instructions of Officer Freeman and Victor, she went to three (3) different banks and withdrew $35,000.00 cash. They informed her that she would receive a "Social Security” Check for the $35,000.00 that she gave them as well as a new social security number. She was informed that they would then freeze the remainder of her assets." The victim stated that a couple of days later, she realized it was a scam. She stated she was scared for her safety given that back on Wednesday, after she had collected the $35,000.00 and wrapped it in a box as instructed by "Officer Freeman," who allegedly told her they were sending someone to her home to pick up the cash. The victim stated she had been told by "Victor" that if she wished to do anything on her laptop that she had to call him so he could "monitor" the computer to secure her information. Victor gave a phone number to contact him at. "Officer Freeman" also gave the victim a phone number to contact him at. The victim stated that on the evening of 06/18/2025, a car came to her house and she walked down the driveway to the car where she interacted with a woman who was in the driver's seat and wearing a surgical mask. She then placed the money in the car and the vehicle drove away. The suspects called the victim regularly for ‘courtesy calls’ and to get the victim to consolidate all her assets into one account. At one point between when this first started and the time of the report the victim had questioned "Officer Freeman," stating that she wanted proof that this was not a scam. She stated that "Officer Freeman" reassured her that this was "not a scam," that if she got local law enforcement involved it would mess up the federal investigation. He also told her that “they” (meaning your friendly neighborhood Crestwood Police) could take her into custody given she was wanted for several crimes. The victim told "Officer Freeman" that she needed more proof so they connected her with an alleged "local police officer" in the St. Louis area, and she was given a seemingly legitimate local telephone number. The victim said she was fearful that they would come back to her house and harm her if she didn’t comply with them henceforth. The victim advised that both "Officer Freeman" and "Victor" continued to call her over the next several days and that she continued to follow their instructions until Thursday, 06/26/25, when she signed into her laptop without first calling Victor. It is important to note that during one of the first phone calls with Victor on 06/17/25, the victim was instructed not to go to any ".gov" websites on her web browser given that her "device was compromised." She broke this "rule" on 06/26/25 as she was starting to become more certain this was a scam. She stated that she attempted to file an online report with the Social Security Administration by going to their ".gov" website when she received a phone call from Victor, asking why she was on her laptop without calling him first. She stated she played it off, stated it was an accident, and then turned off her laptop. The victim advised on the morning of Saturday, 06/28/25, "Officer Freeman" called her. She thought it was suspicious when he immediately asked if she was home because she had disconnected her phone from her Wi-Fi, theorizing that "Officer Freeman" could only track the location of her phone or any other activity when she was connected to her Wi-Fi. She stated it was at this time she was sure this was likely a scam and that her phone, laptop, and likely her personal information had been compromised. The victim called and put freezes on she and her mother’s bank accounts….which is the best thing she could have done. This is an absolute tragedy that could have been stopped quick and cold. If you aren’t doing any of the things they claim to have “charges” on you for, there is absolutely nothing to fear. Heck, even if you ARE doing things such as listed above; First, shame on you. Second, we aren’t going to put a pause on an investigation while you move money around, and we sure aren’t going to hold onto it for you. Don’t call them, call us first to try and set it right for you.
In addition to the aforementioned incidents, your thoughtful Crestwood Officers responded to 11 calls to assist emergency medical services, 9 peace disturbances, 6 business alarms sounding, 17 suspicious situations(s)/person(s)/vehicle(s), 8 calls to assist other law enforcement agencies, 5 motorist assists, 9 vehicle collisions, 3 welfare checks and 1 family disturbance.
That’s it for this week. Another one is in the books and we had the opportunity to learn a lot of things. Art is in the eye of the beholder. Middle school sleepovers should only be for middle schoolers. If you are in, or near a w**d shop, you are on camera. If your kids are out in a stolen car trying to break into other cars (much less police cars), you probably aren’t going to make parent of the year. Finally, we would much rather you take five minutes of our day for us to tell you that it is a scam and save your money than writing a report about how much you lost.
Take care Crestwood. If you need us, call and we will be there.
