May 08--ST. LOUIS -- Police this morning say they have arrested four men in a carjacking Sunday night of an off-duty Bellefontaine Neighbors police officer and his two children.
The officer, 29, was in his 2010 silver Jeep Compass in the 1200 block of McLaran Avenue about 10 p.m. Sunday when two men wearing bandanas over their faces approached the car, pointed a gun at him and demanded the vehicle, police said. The officer got his two children out of the car, and the two attackers drove off in the car.
Police said the officer and his children were not injured.
About 2 a.m. today, city police spotted the Jeep at West Florissant and Robin avenues near Calvary Cemetery, police said. Officers tried to stop the Jeep and four males inside bailed out of the vehicle in the 700 block of Thrush Avenue. Police used dogs to find two of the suspects, who were hospitalized for treatment of dog bites. The two others were found nearby.
Police say it was not clear if the four, ages 15 through 18, were the ones who robbed the officer. Police said the investigation is continuing.
Bellefontaine Neighbors Police Chief Robert Pruett and Mayor Robert Doerr refused to confirm the officer's name. Pruett said the officer has worked for the department for "a few years."
Joel Currier covers breaking news for STLtoday.com and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
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