July 11, 2021- 4: 37 p.m.
Police in Eureka are investigating after a resident confronted a burglar digging through his truck. The confrontation turned violent and was caught on surveillance.
“I’m not scared of them. I’m going to take these guys head on if they come back,” said Leuthauser.
Leuthauser is worried they will return because he believes the same guy have been at his house before.
“This is the third time in three months that it’s happened. They stole it on May 23 and took me 11 days to get it back, and it was destroyed,” said Leuthuaser.
Leuthauser said several of his neighbors’ cars were also hit early Friday morning. Eureka police believe the trio is behind as many as 12 break-ins Friday alone.
“We believe it’s an organized group that’s out there targeting, they’re using stolen vehicles, they are armed. What they’re looking for is weapons and other valuables,” said Lt. Mike Werges with Eureka police.
Werges said this type of crime is on the rise across the St. Louis metro. His department is stepping up patrols, which will include unmarked cars and license plate readers since many of the vehicles used in these crimes were reported stolen.
“I think that at times we live in a kinda a false sense of security. This is a very safe community; however, you wake up to motion in your driveway, you go out to confront someone, which you think maybe is just stealing change and you end up being involved in a violent altercation,” said Werges.
