Mehlville Neighbor Spots Burglar, Writes Down Plate Number, Police Say

A neighbor spotted a carrying a backpack out of a Mehlville home and wrote down his license plate information, helping investigators arrest a South County man, police said.

Justin Alan Jeffers, 24, of the 10000 block of North Bunker Hill Drive in the St. George area near Affton, was charged Sept. 24 with second-degree burglary and felony stealing.

St. Louis County police said Jeffers broke into a home in the 2200 block of Pecan Drive in Mehlville Sept. 23 and stole a Zunammy watch, Toshiba and Dell laptop computers, keys to a 2004 Corvette, and a necklace with a silver heart charm.

Police said a neighbor had seen a car in the driveway and saw a man carrying a black bag walking to the car. The victim’s boyfriend kept his laptop in a black  backpack. Police said the neighbor wrote down the car’s license plate number.

The car’s owner told police the man driving the car likely was her daughter’s boyfriend, Jeffers.

Police arrested Jeffers and got consent to search his girlfriend’s apartment. They found a watch belonging to the victim inside the apartment. They also found a black backpack with the two missing computers in a dumpster adjacent to the apartment, according to a court document.

Police said a recording of a phone call from Jeffers to his girlfriend in which the girlfriend asked about a necklace Jeffers had given to her daughter. Police recovered the necklace from the woman, and it belonged to the burglary victim.

Jeffers posted a $25,000 bond and was released from St. Louis County Jail Sept. 24.