ST. LOUIS - Police are investigating after a 63-year-old man was carjacked in Soulard early Wednesday morning.
The man parked his vehicle in the 700 block of Allen around 12:08 a.m. when a black Toyota stopped and one man exited the vehicle with a handgun and ordered the victim out of his 2003 Chevrolet Cavalier. There were two other suspects in the black Toyota.
Both vehicles were last seen traveling north on South 7th Street. No suspects were taken into custody.
Police said all three suspects were between 17 and 20 years old. One was wearing a black and white ski mask.
A network of surveillance cameras was recently installed in the Soulard neighborhood. 5 on Your Side is asking if the cameras captured the carjacking and whether they have helped solve other crimes.
A police spokesperson said she's checking with investigators to determine if surveillance footage of the carjacking is available.
Meanwhile, outside of Hammerstone's, there is a surveillance camera that belongs to the business. General manager Cory Hammerstone said it's there to help solve crime.
"Sometimes, the police do call on us to take a look at some footage," Hammerstone said.
City and neighborhood leaders know not every property is equipped. That's why, back in March, they announced $218,000 of public-private funding for 16 new cameras.
"I saw a map of where the cameras were and I just, you know, obviously because of where our business is, I was looking where one was close by," Hammerstone said.
She said none of the cameras ended up going up near her building.
"I would love to have one here," she said.
Installation was scheduled to be complete by August. Information on whether the cameras have helped solved crime since then was not immediately available Thursday.
However, police data shows crime in Soulard has gone down in recent months compared to last year. In September, total crime decreased 57 percent from 2016. In October, it went down 42 percent. In November, there was a smaller decrease of eight percent.
"It does kind of ebb and flow and I think it can happen anywhere at any time," Hammerstone said.
She encourages her neighbors to get cameras on their own if they can.
"With our camera footage, the times that we've had accidents in our intersection or people getting mugged ... If it can make up a network of cameras that we can go by, then maybe it will help," she said.
The victim was not injured.
