ST. ANN, Mo. – During a pursuit of a robbery suspect earlier this month, St. Ann police say the suspect’s car reached 135 miles per hour. When the vehicle crashed, officers say the driver had been released on bond in another case. FOX 2 discovered the defendant was supposed to be on an electronic monitoring device.
The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Dawaun Grimm with five felonies, including robbery, kidnapping, and sodomy of a woman who reportedly escaped before the chase began.
On Tuesday, Grimm’s attorney asked for a bond reduction. The judge denied it after hearing Grimm was already out on bond for a gun charge involving alleged threats to an employee at a St. Ann fast food restaurant in July 2023. Court records indicate Grimm was allowed to pay $5,000 to bond out on that charge, as long as he signed up for electronic monitoring set up through a cellphone app, which is an alternative to the ankle monitor.
“That is really troubling to me,” St. Ann Police Chief Aaron Jimenez said.
After the bond reduction hearing, FOX 2 informed Jimenez.
“I mean, if you’re committing Class A felonies or any kind of felonies, and you’re asking someone to put something on a phone where you can leave that at home, borrow your grandmother’s phone or someone else’s phone, and not know really where you’re at?” he said.
We asked Jimenez if there was any sign that Grimm had his monitor with him during his January 1st arrest. Jimenez retrieved Grimm’s property form from that arrest, and a cell phone was not among the things he had on him.
Though frustrated with electronic monitoring that apparently did not protect the public, Jimenez was ecstatic about an electronic device that did work—a license plate reader camera that identified the reported stolen car at a time when police had zero leads.
“Those LPRs have changed the game for us,” Jimenez said.
Holly Beilin, spokeswoman for Flock Safety, the company that makes the cameras, said their technology has helped police solve more than 9% of reported crimes in the country every day.
Grimm, 36, was charged in this latest case with a $250,000 cash-only bond. His defense attorney on Tuesday asked for a reduced bond and an ankle monitor, saying Grimm has two children who rely on him.
The victim wrote to the court, saying she was too scared to show up for the bond reduction hearing but pleaded with the judge to keep the defendant locked up, saying she has nightmares about the incident. She added that she’s a single mom who cannot work now because she says that was her car that Grimm crashed during the police pursuit, and she only had liability insurance on the vehicle.
The judge ruled that Grimm will remain in custody on that $250,000 cash-only bond. Grimm is due back in court at the end of the month.