BELLEVILLE, Ill. — An off-duty St. Louis-area police officer shot and wounded a Christmas Eve intruder in a neighbor's apartment in Illinois.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that authorities said 22-year-old Steven M. Madden, of Granite City, Illinois, tried to steal a woman's car Tuesday afternoon in an apartment complex parking lot outside Belleville, Illinois. They said he was armed and broke several windows of a nearby apartment and threatened a group of people inside with his weapon.
The St. Clair County, Illinois, Sheriff's Department said off-duty Officer Ronald Freeman heard the commotion and came to the apartment. Freeman is a 12-year veteran of the Bel-Ridge, Missouri, police department.
He ordered Madden to drop his weapon and shot him twice when he refused.
Madden threw his weapon at Freeman and hit him in the face. Police discovered that the weapon was a replica pellet gun resembling a firearm.
Authorities said Madden was taken to a hospital with a non-threatening gunshot wound. The officer had minor facial injuries, but no one else was injured.
Madden was charged with home invasion with a firearm, aggravated robbery, and aggravated battery to a police officer. His bond was set at $1 million.
