http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_9a17c08c-bcd1-11df-92c4-00127992bc8b.htmlIMPERIAL -- A shop owner who slept in his
Jefferson County auto sales store grabbed his revolver when he
heard the door rattle and glass breaking early Friday, then shot a
burglar to death, police say.
The shooting happened about 2:15 a.m. Friday at Justice Auto
Sales, 5821 U.S. Highway 61/67. The owner confronted the burglar at
the door, then fired two shots from his revolver. The burglar
staggered back and fell in the parking area outside, said Sgt.
Perry Tindall of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department. He died
at the scene.
Tindall said the shop owner called police and is cooperating
with investigators. He is not in custody. Detectives will be
presenting their evidence to the prosecutor's office.
Police say the burglar is likely tied to a series of other
break-ins and robberies.
Another auto store in the 7000 block of Highway 61/67 in
Jefferson County was burglarized sometime Thursday night. The thief
took a van and motorcycle apparrel.
Then early Friday, as police were investigating the shooting at
Justice Auto Sales, they found the van parked nearby. They assume
the burglar used that van as transportation in other break-ins.
Police found merchandise in the van, and they're trying to sort out
what may be stolen.
Tindall said it Justice Auto Sales hadn't had a problem before
with burglaries, but the shop owner kept a bedroom at the business
and it was routine for him to stay overnight there.
By 9 a.m., police still weren't sure who the dead burglar was.
His body was going to be removed by technicians with the medical
examiner's office. Tindall said police hadn't found a weapon on the
burglar, and they hadn't looked for identification.
The burglar was believed to be in his late 30s or early 40s.