A St. Louis man was getting into his own car in Soulard on September 2 when an armed man walked up, pointed a gun at him, and demanded he get out and leave the keys behind. The victim complied, and the suspect drove off in the stolen vehicle, according to police. Now 18-year-old Antwon A. Harvey is jailed without bond, facing four felony counts tied to the gunpoint theft.
The St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office has charged Harvey with vehicle hijacking, first-degree robbery, and two counts of armed criminal action, as reported by FOX 2. The carjacking happened in the 2300 block of South Ninth Street in Soulard. Police say they tracked the stolen vehicle to Harvey's home, where he was found near the car when officers arrived.
A probable cause statement issued by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department also alleges that Harvey made self-incriminating statements during his arrest, police say. Harvey has a confined docket hearing scheduled for September 11 and a preliminary hearing set for October 1, according to the same report. He is due in court later this week and will remain jailed without bond pending trial.
What Harvey Is Up Against Under Missouri Law
The charges carry unusually heavy legal exposure. Vehicle hijacking is normally a Class B felony in Missouri, but it becomes a Class A felony punishable by 10 to 30 years or life in prison when committed with a deadly weapon, under Missouri Revised Statutes Section 570.027. Missouri created the vehicle hijacking statute under Senate Bill 600, signed into law in 2020, specifically to classify and track carjackings separately from general robbery.
First-degree robbery, the second felony count against Harvey, is also a Class A felony carrying a mandatory sentence of 10 to 30 years or life imprisonment under Missouri Revised Statutes Section 570.023. It is designated a dangerous felony under state law, meaning a defendant convicted of it must serve at least 85% of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole. On top of that, each armed criminal action count carries a mandatory minimum of three years in prison under RSMo Section 571.015, with no eligibility for parole, probation, or a suspended sentence on a first offense, and that time must be served consecutively to any sentence for the underlying felony.
A Pattern of Armed Vehicle Thefts Around St. Louis
Harvey's case follows a recognizable pattern in the region. In March, prosecutors charged another 18-year-old, Selena P. Lutz, with first-degree robbery and armed criminal action after a rideshare driver was carjacked at gunpoint on the city's North Side, a case Lyft ride ends in teen's arrest covered in detail. Just days before Harvey's arrest, a separate multi-count case saw two St. Louis men charged with a dozen felony counts tied to a carjacking spree near Mark Twain.
Soulard itself has seen a string of violent incidents in recent weeks. In late August, a shooting near Carroll and South 7th Streets close to Soulard Park left one man dead and another wounded, which police treated as an isolated confrontation between two individuals. That followed an earlier fatal shooting outside a Soulard venue in mid-August that resulted in no charges against a suspect, drawing frustration from the victim's family. Armed street robberies aren't new to the neighborhood either — in September 2024, two men were robbed at gunpoint near 7th Street and Lafayette Avenue by a group of six armed suspects who fled with keys, wallets, and phones.
Crime Numbers Show a Mixed Picture Citywide
The carjacking arrives even as St. Louis has posted some of its steepest crime declines in years. St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department CompStat data released in January showed citywide crime dropped 16% in 2025 compared to 2024, with robberies falling 15% and homicides hitting a 12-year low of 140 incidents, according to KSDK. A separate national study by the Council on Criminal Justice found St. Louis's robbery rate fell 58% in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2019, more than double the average decline recorded across other major U.S. cities.
Still, a March report from the Show-Me Institute noted that while homicides and carjackings have fallen from their post-2020 peaks, persistently high rates of motor vehicle theft and aggravated assault continue to drive public safety concerns among St. Louis residents. That tension between improving citywide statistics and lingering neighborhood-level anxiety is part of the backdrop against which Harvey's case is unfolding in one of the city's oldest and most historic districts. Soulard, established in the late 18th century, is St. Louis's oldest intact residential neighborhood and a designated National Historic District, known for its brick rowhouses, active nightlife, and the Soulard Farmers Market.
What remains unclear, according to available reporting, is whether any additional suspects were involved in the September 2 carjacking and the precise content of the self-incriminating statements police allege Harvey made during his arrest. Those details, along with the outcome of Harvey's confined docket hearing, are expected to surface as the case moves through the courts this month.
