Teen charged after allegedly breaking into county police vehicle

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – One individual has been charged following an incident of allegedly breaking into a St. Louis County police officer’s personal and patrol vehicle in May, stealing over $1,000 worth of police property.

According to the probable cause statement, 18-year-old Jesden Russell is accused of breaking the windows on a police officer’s personal vehicle and work vehicle and taking several items on May 21.

From the patrol car, stolen property included handcuffs, leg shackles, a police badge, a loaded firearm magazine, and a key fob. Additionally, two more loaded firearm magazines were taken from the personal vehicle. In total, the stolen property added up to nearly $1,400.

Officials deemed Russell a suspect based on a vehicle seen in neighbors surveillance cameras, along with blood samples left behind from breaking in the windows of the personal car. According to county police, the suspect vehicle had been reported stolen earlier in the day in the St. Charles area and was discovered weeks later in the City of St. Louis.

Russell was arrested months later in Maryland Heights for a separate investigation. When officials searched through his phone, they connected it to be at the same location of the car break-in at the time it occurred as well as Florissant, where authorities had found some of the stolen items.

Blood samples left at the scene of the theft matched those of Russell. In an interview while in custody, the 18-year-old denied scars on his arms were in connection to breaking windows.

Russell has been charged with two counts of first-degree property damage and one count of stealing over $750. He is currently being held at the St. Charles County Jail on a $50,000 cash-only bond.

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