Surveillance video captured the horrific moment a St. Louis teen tried to grab a baby from a mother’s arms as she crossed the street with her husband.
The incident happened on Sunday in the Central West End neighbourhood, when a family was crossing the street around 8.30am.
The mother, dressed in a blue jacket, holds her 11-month-old baby as the father walks next to them.
A man in a gray hoodie, identified as 19-year-old Anthony McGee, begins walking toward the family.
Suddenly, McGee grabs the child. The father manages to fend him off before chasing him out of the picture, with McGee then allegedly breaking an 82-year-old woman’s arms.
Surveillance footage shows Anthony McGee, 19, approaching a young family of three
He tries to snatch the child from the 29-year-old mother’s arms, but the father intervenes
McGee has been charged with assault, kidnapping, endangering the welfare of a child, armed criminal action and resisting arrest.
Moments earlier, McGee is accused of smashing a liquor bottle over a 42-year-old woman’s head, according to charging documents.
Witnesses tried to prevent him from escaping after the brutal attack, but to no avail.
He then jumped the 29-year-old parents, leaving injuries to the woman’s neck and ear.
The teen’s rampage continued when he strangled an 82-year-old woman down the street and broke both her arms.
Several witnesses called 911 to stop him.
“I heard someone screaming, a woman screaming,” a resident of the nearby Hawthorne Apartments told FOX 8.
“When I looked out the window, I saw the woman, and she was being held and restrained by a man.”
McGee strangled her for more than a minute, police said. A frantic chase ensued, ending with him being arrested.
The 19-year-old told police: ‘I broke her neck’ as he was led to a police car. The confession was reportedly captured on an officer’s body camera.
The teen (in gray, walking to the couple’s left) is accused of hitting a 42-year-old woman in the head with a bottle earlier that day
After attacking the couple, he strangled an 82-year-old woman and broke her arms (photo: the man fights McGee)
McGee is accused of punching a university student and spitting on officers in two separate incidents earlier this month (Photo: Husband chases McGee out of the picture)
McGee told police, “I broke her neck,” after choking the older woman. The statement was reportedly captured on bodycam footage
Jim Whyte, executive director of the Central West End Neighborhood Security Initiative, says the organization’s cameras captured parts of the series of attacks
Police characterized the disaster as a series of ‘random attacks’.
McGee lives in the 2900 block of Heatherton Drive in unincorporated north St. Louis County.
He faces charges including assault, kidnapping, endangering the welfare of a child, armed criminal action and resisting arrest. A judge ordered McGee held without bond.
He is also charged earlier this month in several other incidents, including punching a woman in the face and spitting on a police officer.
In the first case, police said McGee was caught searching for unlocked cars through the St. Louis Galleria on Oct. 12.
He then spit on an off-duty officer working security.
The teen was accused of hitting a University of Washington student three days later as he walked past her in the town of Clayton.
He fled, but was eventually arrested and charged with fourth-degree assault – a misdemeanor – and resisting arrest.
On October 25, just two weeks later, he is accused of spitting on another police officer.
McGee was summoned to appear in St. Louis County court on Nov. 21.
Jim Whyte, executive director of the Central West End Neighborhood Security Initiative, said some of the organization’s 275 surveillance cameras captured parts of the attacks, including the attempted snatching of a baby.
According to Whyte, McGee is no stranger.
“We spoke to him briefly about a previous incident,” Whyte told the St. Louis-Post Dispatch.
McGee is believed to be homeless, and White said their homeless outreach team has been in contact with him several times.