Jade seated with one of Alvarez's three adopted children.

​Billie Alvarez was on her back patio eating breakfast the morning of Friday, April 16, when a man dressed in all black jumped out from behind a tree. Her dog, Jade, a two-year-old terrier mix, woke up from a nap and sauntered over to the man.

"Her tail was wagging and she was smiling at him," recounts Alvarez, who says the man soon identified himself as a cop with the north St. Louis County suburb of Bellefontaine Neighbors. He said he was investigating a report of a vicious dog on the loose.  

"I tried to tell him that Jade had never bit a soul and that she wasn't violent, but he didn't give me a chance," says Alvarez. "He drew his gun, and said, 'I have to shoot her. I have to shoot her.'"

Within seconds Alvarez says the officer squeezed the trigger dispensing a round from his department issued .40 caliber Glock right between Jade's eyes. The bullet exited though the canine's neck.
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Police in Collinsville are hoping the clothing worn by two robbers Saturday could lead to their identity.

As Fox 2 reported yesterday, the suspects were both dressed in hoodies and baggy jeans. The jeans of one of the crooks had some unusual gold stitching, and it didn't look like the Bagg'ns insignia either.

Check the video below:
 

Louis Ray Finchem, a 67-year-old south St. Louis resident, was found dead in his home in the 5200 block of Dewey Ave. yesterday around 7 p.m.

5200 block of Dewey

​Initially ruled an accidental death, St. Louis police are now investigating the case as a possible homicide after the medical examiner discovered stab wounds on the victim's body.
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Recklein says he doesn't remember the rape, telling authorities he blacked out and arrived home with a swollen hand.

​Keith Recklein was drinking with a friend at a bar in May 2008 when he dialed a woman's number programmed into his buddy's cell phone.

Recklein told the 18-year-old woman on the other end of the line that his friend was drunk and needed a ride home. The woman agreed to lend a hand, showing up at a nearby park in Granite City where she was met by Recklein who told her that the drunk friend was peeing in the woods. That's when Recklein allegedly grabbed the woman, put her into a headlock and beat her to a bloody pulp before raping her.

A park employee found the victim a few hours later, mistaking her broken body for garbage that someone dumped in the park. The woman was too beaten to speak.
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A 20-year-old Washington University student was walking back from campus around 12:30 a.m. this morning when she was reportedly raped and robbed near the intersection of Skinker and Northwoods.

The student was allegedly forced at knife-point behind a building at the intersection of Skinker and Northwoods (pictured here).

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​Cahokia police discovered the body of a nineteen-year-old man hanging from a bridge early Sunday morning.

The victim's body was discovered around 8 a.m. April 25 dangling below a bridge on Levin Drive -- just across the Mississippi River from south St. Louis.

Authorities believe the teen was a suicide victim, though an investigation is ongoing.

Police have yet to release the name of the teen.

Note: Update here.

Dennis Jones

​The St. Louis County Prosecutor's Office issued warrants yesterday against Dennis Jones, charging the 24-year-old Wellston man with sexually assaulting a male and female friend back in December.

According to St. Louis County police, the couple was walking down the MetroLink tracks in Wellston around 11 p.m. December 2 when Jones and two other men approached the pair and announced a robbery. Police say that after taking personal items from the couple, Jones, allegedly armed with a gun, demanded that the victims have sex with each other and then raped the female at gunpoint and attempted sodomy on the female victim.

Jones, of the 1500 block of Valle, is being held on a $75,000 cash only bond.

John Barnes

​Here's a follow-up to the story we reported last week when a pair of undercover police officers were fired upon in the Central West End.

The Circuit Attorney's Office has charged 18-year-old John Barnes, of the 5400 block of St. Louis Avenue as one of the trigger men. Barnes is charged with first-degree assault, discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle, three counts of first degree assault on a law enforcement officer and four counts of armed criminal action.

He's being held on a $150,000.00 cash only bond.

The St. Louis Police Department reports that three of its officers were shot at yesterday afternoon in the Central West End.

The incident occurred around 3 p.m. at the intersection of Boyle and Clayton. None of the officers were struck by bullets.

Boyle as seen looking east at Clayton.

​This morning the police provided the following summary of the incident:
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The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office this afternoon issued charges against George Jones, 36, of the 1100 block of Raritan for two-charges of of armed criminal action, resisting arrest, first-degree assault and two counts of armed criminal action

He is currently each being held on a $150,000 cash only bond.

Bing Maps

The shooting occurred in this apartment complex at the northeast corner of Manchester and McKnight.

​Jones is accused of shooting Rock Hill police officer Matt Crosby as the officer and a colleague responded to a domestic dispute call around 12:20 a.m. today.

Jones allegedly shot the 30-year-old Crosby with a handgun as officer approached the apartment complex where Jones lived as was in an argument with his girlfriend. Crosby's colleague was able to return fire, striking the suspect before taking him into custody.

Crosby remains at St. John's Mercy Medical Center where surgeons have extracted a bullet from his spine.