JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo. — A suspect is facing seven charges after a hostage situation involving three women and a standoff with police in Jefferson County Monday morning.
Carlton H. Roberts was charged Tuesday with first-degree domestic assault, two counts of kidnapping, burglary, armed criminal action, unlawful possession of a firearm and unlawful use of a weapon.
The probable cause statement for the charges details what the women said they went through for up to nine hours inside the home on Adayah Lane.
Police were called to the house in the Arnold area a little before 3:30 p.m. for a disturbance. Court records accuse Roberts of breaking into the home, which belongs to his recent ex-girlfriend. The court document states he was upset with her because she has a new girlfriend.
A fight between Roberts and the woman outside her bedroom escalated to him shooting her once in the chest, seriously injuring her, according to the probable cause statement.
The woman’s grandmother, who lives in the home, said she heard the gunshot and walked out of her bedroom to see her granddaughter lying on the floor. She went back into her bedroom and locked the door.
Moments later, Roberts started a Facebook Live video, which the investigating detective said showed him yelling at the women. His ex-girlfriend was lying on a hallway floor “visually in pain,” the court records state. And he threatened to shoot her again in the video.
The grandmother said Roberts then forced his way into her locked bedroom, pointed a gun at her and demanded her cell phone. Roberts made the women go into his ex-girlfriend’s bedroom at gunpoint.
He didn’t know it, but inside that bedroom his ex-girlfriend’s new girlfriend was hiding in the closet. She remained in there unnoticed throughout the rest of the hostage situation, court records state.
While in the bedroom, Roberts fired a single shot out a window and eventually let the grandmother safely leave the home.
SWAT officers arrived at the home and negotiated with Roberts. Officers entered the home and safely rescued the injured woman after about six hours. Three hours later Roberts was taken into custody.
During the arrest, officers found the woman’s girlfriend. She was not injured in the nine-hour incident.
Roberts is a convicted felon, according to court records. His previous convictions include burglary and tampering with a motor vehicle.
A judge Tuesday denied him bond.