ST. LOUIS — St. Louis Police responded to an alert about a suspicious character who was armed and perched atop a downtown parking garage rooftop at 604 Pine Street. The rooftop overlooks Kiener Plaza and Market Street, where paradegoers and protesters gathered in large numbers on July 4, 2024.
Trentston Sappington, 23, of Granite City, was quickly arrested when he was found armed, overlooking the massive parade crowd. Police described Sappington as possibly having a “mental health crisis.” His intentions for being perched on the roof have not yet been revealed to law enforcement. Sappington was immediately taken into custody on July 4 by St. Louis Police.
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Sappington was set for an appearance in court the following day in Madison County. A motion was filed for a continuance in that case because of what was described as an illness. Sappington was in violation of St. Louis’ new open carry ban because he did not have a concealed carry permit, leading to the seizure of his weapons.
Officers promptly took him into custody and ran background checks on the two semi-automatic pistols. Scans of firearms databases showed one was reported stolen; the other matched the description of another alleged crime in Alton in January.
In addition to the firearm violations, Sappington was also cited for an expired tags traffic violation by Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Police.
Thomas Haine, the Madison County State's Attorney, commented on the situation, noting the new standards outlined in the SAFE-T Act. "Under these constraints, we seek to hold dangerous individuals wherever possible, reviewing the facts of each case individually with the local law enforcement agency involved," Haine said. "We cannot comment on these discussions, but we can confirm that we have filed a petition to revoke the defendant's pretrial release, asking that he be held pending the resolution of these cases."
