ST. LOUIS , MO – United States District Judge Henry E. Autrey sentenced Clarence Brown to 30 months in prison today. The 35-year-old St. Louis, Missouri resident pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Officers from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department patrolling in the Greater Ville area were advised that a stolen vehicle was traveling eastbound on Natural Bridge Avenue from Kingshighway Boulevard. Officers observed the stolen vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed in the parking lane before parking in the area of Blair Avenue and Monroe Avenue.
Officers identified the driver as Brown who re-entered the vehicle and began driving northbound on Blair Avenue. Officers deployed department-issued spike strips. Brown drove over the spike strips, accelerated at a high rate of speed, and turned onto westbound N. Florissant Avenue. While traveling northbound, on Blair Avenue from Salisbury Avenue, a St. Louis Metropolitan Police Detective observed Brown throw a firearm out of the stolen vehicle’s passenger side window. The detective stopped his patrol car, exited his vehicle, and retrieved the discarded firearm, a Glock 23, .40 caliber pistol containing nine live 9mm cartridges.
The recovered pistol had been reported stolen from a home in Creve Coeur, Missouri on October 16, 2019.
Prior to being arrested, Brown drove in the opposite direction of travel and struck an unsuspecting driver head-on. Brown also ignored several police commands to stop resisting before being apprehended after a short foot pursuit. A computer search revealed that Brown was a felon and had an active warrant for his arrest.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney Kourtney M. Bell is handling the case.
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