Governor-elect Greiteins vows to tighten up on crime after wife Sheena is robbed

UPDATE, 12:00 p.m.: Governor-elect Eric Greitens and his wife, Sheena Greitens, vowed Tuesday to toughen up on crime in the state after Sheena Greitens was robbed at gunpoint Monday night.

“If we continue down our current path, it will continue to lead to more disorder, more lawlessness, more chaos, people living farther and farther apart from each other, divided by fear,” he told reporters Tuesday morning in St. Louis.

Sheena Greitens was going to a coffee shop by her home to get some work done, the Greitens administration said Tuesday.

The couple said Monday night’s incident has strengthened their resolve to fight violent crime statewide.

“We are also aware that what happened to me and my family last night happens to far too many people across the city and across the state,” said Sheena Greitens. “That cannot continue.”

Greitens told reporters when he got the phone call last night his first thought was for his wife’s safety, his second was for justice.

“I’m glad that the men and women of law enforcement found these young men before I did,” he said.

Greitens said he plans to sit down with the families of the suspects to find out what can be done to stop children from going into a life of crime.

“This has strengthened by belief that we must do different in the state of Missouri, he said.

ORIGINAL STORY: Governor-elect Eric Greitens’ wife, Sheena Greitens, was robbed at gunpoint Monday night.

According to the St. Louis Police Department, it happened just before 6:20 p.m. after Eric Greiten’s wife had left a restaurant in the 3900 block of West Pine Blvd.

She was in her car looking at her phone, when her door was suddenly opened by a black male suspect. Police said he pointed a gun at her and demanded property. She gave him her laptop and phone. She told officers she saw several black males run from the scene.

“She is safe — but shaken,” Eric Greitens wrote on his Facebook page. “We are grateful for the men and women of law enforcement. Their response was swift and skilled, and we thank God for their presence tonight.”

According to police, they discovered another vehicle in the parking lot had been broken into and a phone had been stolen. The victim tracked his phone, which led officers to the suspect vehicle in the 4200 block of Shreve.

When police tried to pull over that vehicle, it sped off and crashed. Three black teens aged 14, 15, and 19 fled on foot, but were quickly taken into custody.

Police said further investigation revealed that the suspect vehicle had been stolen in an earlier robbery and that it had been used in an attempted robbery in the 3100 block of Locust right before the incidents on West Pine.

Property from the robberies and vehicle break-ins was recovered from the vehicle.

The governor-elect said, “We are, now more than ever, disturbed by the violence and chaos in our communities. And we are, now more than ever, focused on the mission of creating safer neighborhoods for all of our families and all of our children.”