ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis man is accused of attacking a pastor with a baseball bat last month and stealing their vehicle.

The assault took place on January 8 near the intersection of Lee Avenue and Peck Street, in the city’s Fairground neighborhood, according to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s probable cause statement.

Police claim the pastor was sitting in a vehicle when Gregory D. Seddens Jr., 34, approached the vehicle and broke the windows with a bat. The pastor got out of the vehicle and Seddens struck that person with the bat in the victim’s legs and head.

A person who was with Seddens got in the driver’s side of the pastor’s vehicle and drove off. Seddens got in his own vehicle and followed, leaving the victim lying in the street.

The pastor told police that he knows Seddens and had previously allowed him to stay at his residence in University City. During that overnight stay, the pastor noticed some personal items had been stolen, confronted Seddens about it, and filed a police report.

Investigators believe the assault and car theft were in retaliation for filing that report.

Seddens was later arrested in Kirkwood in a stolen vehicle. Police did not specify if it was the pastor’s vehicle or a different car.

The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office charged Seddens with first-degree robbery, second-degree assault, first-degree property damage, and two counts of armed criminal action. Seddens will remain jailed without bond until trial.