Man Caught Stripping Copper from Strip Club Shot Dead in East St. Louis
samsung1
Ohio
Police in East St. Louis say Travis Heard, 33, was on the roof of the Colony II Theatre and Cocktails strip club around 5 a.m. this morning when he was confronted by the club's owner.
​Heard was reportedly ordered off the roof at gunpoint and escorted inside the building. The club owner called police around 5:30 a.m. to report the attempted theft, but by the time authorities arrived to the scene Heard was dead.
The owner -- described as a "elderly man" -- told police that Heard tried to flee and he shot him. Police followed a trail of blood some 75 feet from the club, where Heard's body was found lying in the weeds.
Heard's family tells the Belleville News-Democrat that he was addicted to drugs.
"He had a drug problem, but that was no reason to kill him. He was not a trouble maker; he was just on drugs," said cousin, Bernard Heard.
http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrf…
​Heard was reportedly ordered off the roof at gunpoint and escorted inside the building. The club owner called police around 5:30 a.m. to report the attempted theft, but by the time authorities arrived to the scene Heard was dead.
The owner -- described as a "elderly man" -- told police that Heard tried to flee and he shot him. Police followed a trail of blood some 75 feet from the club, where Heard's body was found lying in the weeds.
Heard's family tells the Belleville News-Democrat that he was addicted to drugs.
"He had a drug problem, but that was no reason to kill him. He was not a trouble maker; he was just on drugs," said cousin, Bernard Heard.
http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrf…
10 comments
If that was Texas, it would be an open and shut case. Come on the property and steal, you damn well will hear "BANG !!", and maybe nothing else.
I remember one time I was at Arby's and used the urinal there. When I flushed it started to flood...I reported it to a staff member and she said "must be those copper thefts again"
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/illin…
Nice denial of reality there. I am sure the guy who kicked down my door wasn't a trouble maker he was "just on drugs" too.
Without the police presence, everything will become a capital punishment offense.
Copper sells now for a little more than $3/pound. I dunno if scrap copper is a worth a lil less though.
The old man has been trying to sell the club for a few years now and retire. I get the feeling his retirement will be spend in Joliet.
Bee