Mo. man arrested after breaking into fire department and stealing FFs truck

By Ethan Colbert
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

ST. CHARLES, Mo. – Trouble for Jimmie Bates III began Monday morning when Bridgeton police reported finding him in a stolen truck. Within hours, he was in another one – this one, investigators said, belonged to a St. Charles firefighter who was on a call.

The 28-year-old was first arrested around 9:30 a.m. that day after officers discovered him in the driver's seat of a truck that had been stolen from a store in Bridgeton. Bates was taken to the St. Charles City Jail on an outstanding warrant, St. Charles City Police Detective Gage Gruenenfelder said.

He was released shortly afterward, pending new charges, but Gruenenfelder said before Bates left the area, problems arose again: Within about an hour, he had traveled less than 400 yards and was at St. Charles City Firehouse 5 on Hawks Nest Drive.

“I don’t think he staked it out,” Gruenenfelder said. “I think he was in the fire department area and noticed there was no fire engine there. He said he went there to get help and realized no one was there, so he just helped himself.”

That assistance, according to Gruenenfelder, included the theft of a handheld radio from St. Charles City and several firefighters' items: a GMC Sierra pickup truck, a firefighter's jacket, AirPods, a backpack and a pair of Crocs.

Gruenenfelder said the fire station was hit while firefighters were responding to a traffic accident.

The plainclothes detective told the Post-Dispatch that he was called Monday to investigate the break-in at the firehouse. Instead of going to the station, Gruenenfelder said he went looking for the suspect while the firefighter tracked his AirPods on his phone and provided investigators with the location in real time.

The left earpiece rang at Boone's Colonial Inn, Gruenenfelder said. But a security guard there told him the GMC truck had left about 15 minutes ago.

The right earpiece had rung about 8 miles from its counterpart near the Northwest Airport Inn in St. Ann in the 3700 block of North Lindbergh.

Police reportedly found the stolen truck parked behind bushes and trees in the area “to conceal it.” Gruenenfelder said they watched the car for about five minutes before they saw Bates walk to the truck and get in.

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“I will say that from the time I got the call to the time Jimmie was handcuffed, it was about an hour and a half,” Gruenenfelder said. “Using AirPods – that was a first. It was strange.”

Bates was arrested just before midnight while wearing the firefighter's jacket and both AirPods. Bates later told Gruenenfelder that he had heard police talking about tracking him on the stolen St. Charles City handheld radio and knew they were on their way to him.

Everything that was taken from the fire station was recovered undamaged in the truck.

Bates told police he knew it was wrong to take the items and that he was only borrowing the truck, investigators said in court documents.

Bates, of St. Charles, was charged Tuesday with one count of second-degree burglary, one count of larceny of a motor vehicle and one count of larceny of property valued at more than $750 in connection with the St. Charles thefts.

All charges are felonies.

Bridgeton police are also expected to file criminal charges against him for car theft and criminal damage.

Bates, who has previous convictions in Minnesota for aggravated robbery, fleeing police and drug charges, is being held in the St. Charles County Jail. St Charles County

Deputy Judge Dwayne Johnson set Bates' bond at $10,000, cash only.

According to electronic court records, Bates has not retained an attorney to represent him in the St. Charles County case.

“There are not many authorities that will travel to St. Louis to find you and arrest you,” Gruenenfelder said. “We like to hold people accountable; We’re trying to lock up everyone we can for the crimes we (reported).”

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