An 18-year-old and a juvenile are facing serious trouble after a Lyft ride in north St. Louis turned into a carjacking near Riverview Boulevard and West Florissant Avenue on Monday. Police say the driver bailed out and ran on foot, and officers found the stolen vehicle within about an hour. The 18-year-old, identified in charging documents as Selena P. Lutz, remains jailed without bond.
What police say happened
According to a probable cause statement described by local reporters, the pair requested a Lyft and rode in the front passenger and back seats. The juvenile passenger allegedly pulled a gun, pointed it at the driver and ordered the driver out of the vehicle. Investigators say Lutz then climbed from the back seat into the driver’s spot and drove off in the stolen car. Officers later tracked and recovered the vehicle in roughly an hour and arrested both Lutz and the juvenile. Prosecutors have charged Lutz with first-degree robbery and armed criminal action, as reported by FOX2.
Not an isolated incident
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s online news archive lists multiple carjackings and “hold up” posts over the past several years, including earlier cases in which rideshare drivers were forced out of their vehicles. Those routine updates show officers repeatedly called to similar thefts and armed robberies across city neighborhoods, according to the department’s reporting on past rideshare-targeted cases (St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department).
National trend: younger suspects
Police in other cities have also warned about increasingly younger teens popping up in rideshare-related carjackings, a shift they say complicates both investigations and charging decisions. As FOX 5 DC reported, officers elsewhere have arrested suspects as young as 14 and 16 in similar incidents in recent years.
What the charges carry
Under Missouri law, robbery in the first degree is a class A felony, the state’s most serious felony category. Armed criminal action is an unclassified felony that brings mandatory prison time, which must be served in addition to any sentence for the underlying crime. Details are outlined in the state’s robbery statute (Missouri statutes) and the armed criminal action statute (FindLaw).
Police ask for tips
Authorities are asking anyone with information about the case to contact detectives or send tips through the police department’s established channels. The department’s news and press pages include guidance on how to share information with investigators. St. Louis police say the investigation is ongoing and have not released additional details at this time (St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department).
