ST. LOUIS – A St. Louis County man appeared in federal court on Wednesday and denied committing a drug robbery while armed with a machine gun.
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said Walter C. Moore, 19, was indicted on June 5 on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a machine gun, robbery, and possession of a machine gun in furtherance of a crime of violence.
According to the St. Louis County Police Department’s probable cause statement, the theft occurred on April 25. Police did not provide a location or time of day.
The victim told police she was driving her 2014 Mazda 6 in an area and had gotten lost. She noticed Moore on the sidewalk, who flagged her down and asked for a cigarette.
County police claim the victim let Moore sit in the front seat of her car and that Moore asked her for drugs. He then pulled out a pistol from a black bag and ordered the woman out of the car.
Police claim Moore got in the driver’s seat and left while the victim ran to a nearby home to seek help.
The victim’s phone was still in the Mazda, which police used to locate the vehicle. Police claim Moore tried to run away on foot but was apprehended after a brief chase.
Moore’s black bag contained narcotics, a Glock pistol, and a switch or auto sear device, which renders a semi-automatic firearm into a fully automatic weapon. The pistol was also equipped with an extended magazine and a laser sight.
If convicted in federal court, the possession of a machine gun charge carries a mandatory minimum of 30 years.
On March 18, 2024, Moore was convicted for unlawful use of a weapon, first-degree harassment, tampering with a motor vehicle, and resisting arrest. He’s been held in jail since.
In the aforementioned case, Moore drove a stolen car to his girlfriend’s home in University City and fired a gun into the air outside the residence. He led police on car chase, which he streamed on Instagram, and texted a death threat to his girlfriend. After being arrested and booked, police said Moore called a friend and said that he’d kill his girlfriend once he got out of jail.
