MetroLink Mugging Thwarted by Cup of Coffee

By Chad Garrison on Wed, Apr 7, 2010 at 12:39 pm

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In java we trust.

Here's one way to assuage Louisa McKendrick and other Daily RFT commenters concerned that the tax increase for MetroLink will usher in a new wave of crime.

Arm the citizenry with coffee.

It worked for one MetroLink rider Saturday in East St. Louis. As the Belleville News-Democrat reports today, the passenger was waiting on the platform near the Casino Queen around 6 a.m. when a female mugger demanded "money or cigarettes" and implied that she had a knife.

That's when the MetroLink rider threw a cup of coffee at the mugger's face and ran to a nearby sheriff deputy.

Franchesta Brown, of St. Louis, was identified based -- in part -- on her coffee drenched face.

Brown, 45, remains in the St. Clair County Jail on $50,000 bail.