Police Honored For Cracking Extortion Case

On a quarterly basis, the city of Creve Coeur gathers to honor members of the police department for their work and to hand out certificates of recognition at a ceremony held at the Creve Coeur Government Center. On Tuesday, Creve Coeur Police Chief Glenn Eidman read the following citation:

At 11pm on August 11th a family living in the Questover neighborhood heard loud and unusual noises coming from their garage.  As they opened the garage door, they saw their vehicle doors standing open and several items stolen from the interior of the vehicles. 

Officer Vaclavik arrived on scene, interviewed the victims and was able to locate and lift several latent fingerprints from two of the vehicles. 

Sgt. McIntosh and Officer Gleeson arrived on scene and began a systematic search of the area. Although it was dark, the two were able to locate and seize physical evidence that appeared to have been dropped by the suspects as they were fleeing the scene of the crime. 

A short time later, officers on the burglary scene were alerted to a nearby resident who found a threatening extortion note on his front door. Creve Coeur Police had been investigating a series of extortion letters left at various homes in the same area. 

The next day, the Police Department was notified that St. Louis County Police had arrested a person who was in possession of the credit cards belonging to the burglary victim. In addition, the evidence seized by the Creve Coeur officers was directly tied to a burglary in unincorporated St. Louis County which occurred weeks earlier.

When questioned, the suspect denied involvement in the extortions, but admitted to committing the burglary. However, Detective Worth was still convinced that the suspect was involved in the extortion scheme. Det. Worth met with the suspect and developed a good rapport, this rapport was key to gaining a confession from the suspect as being the one responsible for placing the extortion notes. 

Based on his diligence, skillful interview techniques and perseverance, Det. Worth was able to clear several cases and calm the fears of the victims of these disturbing extortion letters. 

Based on a high degree of teamwork and skill between all of these officers, several felony crimes were cleared and a suspect was identified and arrested. For this reason, Sgt. Jon McIntosh, Det. Scott Worth, Officer Michael Vaclavik and Officer David Gleeson are each awarded Certificates of Recognition.