A marijuana sale between two men who knew each other turned into an armed carjacking on the 11200 block of Ruesta Drive in Spanish Lake, according to police, leaving the buyer without his car and his legally owned handgun. Christopher Walker now faces first-degree robbery and armed criminal action charges over the August 13 incident, and he remains jailed on a $200,000 cash-only bond.
According to FOX 2, the victim and Walker had arranged to meet so the victim could buy marijuana from Walker, something he had reportedly done before without any trouble. This time, the two met inside the victim's car, and police say another man got into the vehicle and held a gun to the victim's head, telling him not to move. Walker then allegedly took the victim's Glock 19 handgun, which the man had been carrying for personal protection, before Walker himself left the car unarmed, police said.
The victim gave police a description of his vehicle, and officers were able to locate and arrest Walker, according to the station's report. He is now in custody in connection with the robbery of the Spanish Lake man. Walker has a bond hearing scheduled for August 24 and a preliminary hearing set for September 14, both in Clayton.
Legal Exposure Runs Deep for Robbery and Weapons Charges
The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office has charged Walker with first-degree robbery, a Class A felony under Missouri law that can carry 10 to 30 years or life in prison when a perpetrator forcibly steals property while armed with or displaying a weapon, according to Combs Waterkotte. He also faces armed criminal action, an unclassified felony that carries a mandatory minimum three-year sentence without eligibility for probation or parole during that period, per the same firm's analysis of Missouri Revised Statutes § 571.015. State law requires that any prison term for armed criminal action be served consecutively to, not alongside, the sentence for the underlying felony, according to the Hartley Law Firm.
The $200,000 cash-only bond set for Walker sits among the steepest pre-trial financial barriers used under 21st Judicial Circuit practice, according to the Safety and Justice Challenge initiative, which tracks St. Louis County court reform data. The group notes that 53% of criminal defendants in the county have historically faced cash-only or no-bond detention orders at their initial court appearance, a practice typically reserved for high-risk felony cases involving weapons or violence. Because the bond is cash-only, Walker cannot secure release through a bail bondsman and would need to pay the full amount to get out of custody before trial.
An Illicit Deal Despite Legal Marijuana
Missouri voters legalized recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older under Constitutional Amendment 3 in November 2022, but that legalization applies only to personal possession and sales through licensed dispensaries regulated by the state Department of Health and Senior Services, according to Bur Oak Injury Law. Unlicensed, private sales like the one the victim had arranged with Walker remain illegal under Missouri criminal statutes, leaving such transactions outside the protections afforded to licensed retail purchases, per the firm's review of state law.
The victim's handgun was legally his to carry. Missouri has operated as a permitless carry state since January 2017 under Senate Bill 656, allowing most adults 19 and older who can legally own firearms to carry concealed handguns without a state permit, according to Alien Gear Holsters. That same law prohibits carrying firearms during the commission of a felony or possessing stolen weapons, a restriction now relevant to whoever ends up holding the Glock 19 that was taken during the robbery.
Open Questions Remain in the Case
It remains unclear whether investigators have identified or arrested the second man who police say held the gun to the victim's head, and whether the stolen vehicle or the Glock 19 handgun have been recovered. It is also unknown whether additional charges will be filed against Walker or anyone else by the time of his bond hearing or the September preliminary hearing.
Spanish Lake is an unincorporated census-designated place in northeastern St. Louis County spanning roughly 7.5 square miles with a population of 18,413 as of the 2020 U.S. Census, according to Wikipedia. Because the community has no municipal government of its own, all public safety and administrative services come directly from St. Louis County agencies, including police coverage from the St. Louis County Police Department's North County Precinct, which operates out of a facility on Dunn Road near Christian Hospital in Spanish Lake.
The 11200 block of Ruesta Drive has been tied to serious crime before. A resident of that same block was charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in 2022 following a fatal shooting at a nearby business, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Regional numbers show a mixed picture for violent crime in the area: St. Louis-area robberies fell 15% year-over-year in 2025 alongside broader drops in Part I violent crime, even as St. Louis County police recorded roughly a 28% increase in homicide investigations over the same period, according to crime data shared on Facebook.
