ST. LOUIS _ Hours after Sheena Greitens was robbed at gunpoint Monday night, Missouri Gov.-elect Eric Greitens and his wife called for law and order as well as compassion for the suspects apprehended Monday night.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday morning in St. Louis, near the crime scene, Eric Greitens said the incident strengthened his resolve as he prepares to become chief executive on Jan. 9.
"I'm thankful to God that (Sheena) is here with all of us this morning," he said. "As a husband, my first thought was for Sheena's safety. My second thought was for justice.
"I'm glad law enforcement found these men before I did," he added.
Greitens vowed to sit down with the mothers of the suspects, "whose lives also changed."
"And I feel for their families," Greitens said.
The Greitens did not take questions from reporters, but senior adviser Austin Chambers said after their statement that Sheena Greitens would now be provided security from the Missouri Highway Patrol.
The robbery happened shortly after 6 p.m. near Cafe Ventana, just west of the campus of St. Louis University. Chambers said Sheena Greitens was on her way to a coffee shop to do some work. She was alone.
Greitens was sitting inside her vehicle in the parking lot of the restaurant when her car door was suddenly opened by a suspect, police said.
The suspect pointed a gun at Greitens and demanded her property, police said. Greitens gave the suspect her laptop and cellphone.
She saw several men or boys running from the scene, police said.
Police found that another car in the parking lot had been broken into and a man's cellphone was taken.
The man tracked his cellphone, which led officers to the 4200 block of Shreve Avenue.
Officers got behind a suspect vehicle and attempted to stop it. The vehicle fled and was involved in an accident, police said. No one was injured.
Three male teenagers got out of the car and fled from the scene on foot before they were taken into custody, police said. The suspects are ages 14, 15 and 19.
Investigators found the suspects' car had been stolen in an earlier robbery on the 3700 block of Lindell Boulevard.
It had also been used in an attempted robbery in the 3100 block of Locust Street just before the robbery on West Pine.
The stolen laptop and cellphones were found in the suspects' vehicle, police said.
