By Kim Bell
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis police officer who got in a wild shootout with a car thief today ran out of ammunition and crawled on his knees to escape the gunfire.
No one was apparently injured in the incident just after 11 a.m. today. The suspect, a 23-year-old man with a robbery conviction, has been taken into custody.
Before the gunman was captured, he jumped into the officer’s patrol car in the 5600 block of Waterman Boulevard and drove away, crashing into a home at Goodfellow Boulevard and Switzer Avenue.
Dozens of shots were fired.
Police Chief Joe Mokwa indicated the incident is related to an early-morning car theft in which a 5-year-old autistic boy was taken. The boy was found unharmed about 20 minutes later when the car was abandoned with its engine running at Cote Brilliante and Clara avenues.
Mokwa said the shootout capped a morning of crimes that may be related. The crimes included car thefts and thefts of credit cards. Mokwa said as many as four other suspects are on the loose.
Mokwa said police this morning were checking the credit-card usage.
Investigators are still putting together the details about what happened.
“It’s been a tragic morning,” Mokwa said. “Fortunately, no one was killed.”
Mokwa said the officer was uninjured in the shootout but was shaken by the experience.
Mokwa said the suspect told police he’d fired at the officer because he had been in prison before and didn’t want to go back.
Copyright 2008 St. Louis Post-Dispatch