Four suspects arrested after series of store thefts

Authorities suspect four people arrested Thursday were connected to a series of similar thefts at stores in Jefferson City, Columbia and Wentzville.

Tim Ballard leaves sherwood courtroom.

Flor Pacheco (cq) (left) 12 of Rogers, and Giovani Interiano (cq) 8 of Rogers climb on the playground equipment at Lake Atalanta Tuesday afternoon. The kids were taking advantage of the warm weather as the last of the weekend snow melts away on Spring Break in Rogers.

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Kyle Busch holds up the trophy after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Mountain Dew 250 truck race Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009, at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Ala.

Wentzville police arrested the four suspects on Thursday night while investigating an attempt to steal merchandise at a Kohl's store. Officers took the suspects into custody after discovering a 2009 Chevrolet Impala in the parking lot that matched the description of a suspect car spotted earlier in the day at Ross Dress for Less in Wentzville where a man and two women stole purses and clothing.

Police claim that, in between the two thefts in Wentzville, the suspects traveled to Columbia and then Jefferson City where they also stole from retail stores. Jefferson City officers were called Thursday evening to investigate a theft of clothing from Kohl's, where employees identified the suspect vehicle as a Chevrolet Impala, but police were unable to locate it at the time.

The suspects arrested in the case were: Darian L. Knox, 17; Brittany C. O'Gorman, 23; Diara D. Parker, 23; and Shannon J. Parks, 18, all of St. Louis.

Wentzville police report the Impala the suspects were driving had been stolen from St. Louis. They also are suspected of additional thefts previously in O'Fallon. All four were held on various charges in St. Charles County on $20,000 cash bond each.

Parks is also wanted in Illinois for two counts of felony retail theft, police said.