Columbia police say two 19-year-old men carried out an armed carjacking and a string of vehicle break-ins near Columbia College this week. J'Marion Dalton and Emmanuel Ernest were arrested near the 500 block of North College Avenue, accused of terrorizing a victim at gunpoint and rifling through cars parked along the same commercial corridor.
According to KOMU 8, the case began Wednesday when Columbia police received calls that three suspects were entering vehicles in parking lots near Columbia College, a private campus founded in 1851 whose main grounds are at 1001 Rogers Street, according to Columbia College. Per a probable cause statement, the suspects were seen searching vehicles along the 4800 block of Paris Road, and police say the group included Dalton, Ernest and an unnamed juvenile.
The following day, officers responded to reports of an armed carjacking. The victim told police multiple suspects attacked, threatened them with a firearm, and stole their vehicle, per the probable cause statement. That stolen vehicle was later identified through the city's network of Flock Safety license plate reader cameras, which flagged it as connected to both the carjacking and the earlier break-ins of other vehicles.
Search Warrant Turns Up Gun, Credit Cards, Stolen Car
Detectives used that lead to identify the suspects and track down the stolen vehicles, the report notes. Investigators also recovered one of the stolen vehicles near Dalton's residence and located clothing matching what Dalton wore in surveillance footage.
Dalton and Ernest were arrested in connection with the carjacking and vehicle break-ins.
Why the Charges Carry So Much Weight
The hijacking charge stems from a 2020 overhaul of Missouri law: under Senate Bill 600, lawmakers created a standalone vehicle hijacking offense, classifying it as a Class A dangerous felony carrying mandatory prison time, according to KSDK. Before that change, prosecutors had to rely on general stealing or robbery statutes to pursue carjacking cases.
The Flock camera network that helped crack the case is a relatively new tool for Columbia police. The city council approved installation of the automated license plate readers in October 2024, and by March 2026 the system was logging nearly 900,000 vehicle scans a month, according to KBIA.
Part of a Broader Property Crime Trend
Columbia's own numbers suggest the case fits a wider pattern. Annual statistics released by the Columbia Police Department in March showed violent crime declining between 2023 and 2025, even as overall property crime rose across the city during the same stretch, per Hoodline.
The Paris Road corridor where the arrests happened has seen other high-profile emergency response activity this year; a two-vehicle collision at Paris Road and Vandiver Drive sent four people to the hospital last month. It remains unclear what charges, if any, the juvenile in this case faces.
Columbia police say the investigation remains ongoing. Whether additional victims come forward among the ten alleged second-degree burglary counts, and when Dalton and Ernest will appear in Boone County Circuit Court, are questions authorities have not yet answered.
