A teenager came into the firehouse at 6500 Michigan Avenue on Monday night looking for a soda, and walked out with a paramedic’s purse and keys to a firefighter’s pickup.
The burglary happened around 7:30 p.m. during a shift change as emergency medical crews were talking outside the station in the Carondelet neighborhood. The boy, estimated to be about 14, asked to buy a drink from the vending machine.
It’s common for people to walk up and talk to firefighters or ask for advice, said St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson. No one escorted the teen to the soda machine, where he allegedly grabbed a set of keys lying on a workbench and a purse sitting on the seat of an ambulance.
The teen returned later to match the key to a firefighter’s truck, which he stole, Jenkerson said.