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Spike in car thefts, increase in gun violence among crime trends in St. Louis  

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ST. LOUIS – St. Louis is not alone when it comes to residents worried about crime. The city is consistently listed as one of the most dangerous cities in the country. 

Bobby Boxerman is a UMSL Ph.D. candidate in criminology who recently co-authored a series of reports on crime trends in major U.S. cities for the Council on Criminal Justice. 

“St. Louis does persistently rank pretty high in most crime measures, especially violent crime,” he said.

Boxerman said that if you look at the St. Louis region compared to other cities, the results put St. Louis closer to the middle of the pack. 

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Recent crimes downtown have led to calls for more action to curb crime. FOX 2 asked Boxerman to take a closer look at crime trends in the downtown area, including the Downtown West neighborhood. 

According to crime statistics from the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, Boxerman said gun violence in the downtown area has steadily climbed during the past 15 years. 

“There’s been a very steady increase,” he said. “There haven’t been any huge jumps, but it’s been every year, going up more and more.” 

Boxerman said that the number of robberies in the downtown area has dropped. One crime that has spiked in St. Louis is auto theft. Boxerman said the number of thefts rose by 300% during the past three years. A spike in Kia and Hyundai thefts is a likely contributing factor. 

Boxerman said crime trends in St. Louis appear to be consistent with other cities in recent years. He also said crime trends for the downtown area of St. Louis appear to be consistent with other areas in the city, and believe addressing crime begins with addressing poverty. 

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Man attacks Jeff Co. deputy with screwdriver during attempted arrest

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JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. – Two people are behind bars after a man reportedly attacked a Jefferson County deputy with a screwdriver during an attempted arrest over the weekend.

Prosecutors have charged Nicholas Davis, 47, and Amanda Davis, 45, of Dittmer, Missouri, with felonies in the investigation.

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The alleged attack followed a traffic stop of a driver in the 9500 block of Jones Creek Road on July 7, though the driver was not Nicholas or Amanda.

According to court documents obtained by FOX 2, Nicholas reportedly came out of his nearby home, yelled at a deputy and started approaching him while holding a screwdriver. The deputy initially ordered Nicholas to back away, then used pepper spray.

Per court documents, the deputy attempted to arrest Nicholas, who then struck him in the chest with the screwdriver. Amanda reportedly approached the deputy and pulled him away from Nicholas before both ran inside their home.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says the situation prompted an hours-long standoff involving negotiators, a SWAT team and a K-9 deputy. The situation led to Nicholas refusing warnings and being bitten by a K-9.

Nicholas and Amanda are both jailed in the Jefferson County Jail without bond. Nicholas is charged with first-degree assault on a special victim and armed criminal action. Amanda is charged with resisting/interfering with arrest.

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St. Louis Public Schools superintendent to be sworn in

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ST. LOUIS — The new St. Louis schools superintendent will be officially sworn into office today. Dr. Keisha Scarlett took over the job in July after the retirement of Dr. Kelvin Adams. She was assistant superintendent in the Seattle Public School District. The installation ceremony is at 6:15 p.m. before the regular school board meeting.

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Gas tanker crashes into St. Louis Metro transit center

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ST. LOUIS — A gasoline tanker truck crashed into a Metro transit center near Riverview and Hall Streets early Tuesday morning and knocked over a power pole. The pole is leaning on other power lines. Police have the area blocked off here because there is a downed power line. Ameren and Metro crews are also on the scene.

The incident happened around 12:30 a.m. It’s still unclear exactly what caused the crash, but we do that there was a second vehicle somehow involved. The airbags on that second vehicle did deploy.

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Police at the scene have not been able to give us a lot of details. Metro officials tell FOX 2 that the transit center here is operating this morning for passengers and buses. Access to certain areas will be limited here as clean up unfolds.

A Metro spokesperson says half of the station isn’t being used right now because of safety issues. It isn’t impacting overall bus operations, everything is just happening on the other side of transit center.

The extent of the damage to the actual transit center is still unclear, but I’m told it does not appear to be extreme. A Metro spokesperson tells me there were no injuries to any metro workers or passengers. The tanker driver also was not injured.

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