ST. LOUIS – Since the historic Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in the Shaw neighborhood caught fire last July, it has since been continuously vandalized by citizens.
One neighbor, Daniel Romano, has seen thieves at the highest point.
“One day we saw people carrying the bell out. I approached them. They acted like they had authority to do that, but I found out quickly they didn’t,” he said. “Then the stained glass windows started disappearing.”
While the thieves were quick and clever, Romano and other neighbors kept their hopes up that they could stop them.
“The police will tell you we can’t do it on our own. I mean, I could not expect them to have a 24-7 guard out there, so you know it has to be up to the neighbors,” he said.
Court records show another concerned citizen found ads for the windows on Facebook Marketplace and reported it to police, who responded immediately.
According to a SLMPD probable cause statement, detectives used facial recognition software on the suspect’s Facebook profile picture. It reportedly matched mugshots for a 24-year-old De Soto man, Taylor Jordan Baumer.
It was discovered Baumer was placed on an ankle monitor last November due to an assault charge. He reportedly violated the electronic monitoring seven times in just over two weeks, according to court records.
The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s office filed a motion to revoke his bond, alleging the ankle monitor was disconnected. A judge agreed to issue a warrant for his arrest. But that case went cold—until the stolen windows popped up on Facebook Marketplace.
Police set up a covert Facebook account and undercover detectives asked to buy those windows at a BP gas station on South Grand. And on Feb. 28, investigators say defendant Baumer wheeled out those stained glass windows on a dolly and was arrested.
“(The arrest) is great news, I hope that will discourage everyone from looting and vandalizing these old buildings because it’s not good for the neighborhood,” Romano said.
Baumer is now in custody, awaiting a hearing scheduled for later this month for both the church theft and assault cases.
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