A man from St. Louis County, Missouri, admitted to carjacking and robbing two people in St. Louis in 2023.
Bradley C. McKinney, 35, pleaded guilty to carjacking, brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, and possession of a machine gun. McKinney’s plea agreement revealed that shortly after midnight on July 29, 2023, he and an accomplice, both armed with handguns, approached two individuals who had just exited a 2015 Chevy Cruze near the intersection of 16th Street and Lucas Avenue. The robbers rummaged through the victims’ pockets, taking the keys to the Cruze and other valuables. McKinney’s associates arrived in a white GMC Terrain, and McKinney drove off in the Cruze with another accomplice. Both vehicles then fled the scene.
After the victims called the police, the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) found footage of the vehicles crossing into Illinois. Investigators identified the GMC Terrain and issued a “wanted” alert for both vehicles. Later that morning, the Cruze was found abandoned in East St. Louis with the key still in the ignition.
About 25 hours after the carjacking, the RTCC received a license plate recognition hit for the GMC Terrain. Officers used a spike strip to deflate several tires, leading to McKinney’s apprehension. McKinney, the driver and sole occupant, had a black Glock 17 handgun with an extended magazine and an auto-sear, or “switch,” making it a machine gun, in plain view beneath the driver seat. McKinney admitted owning the fully automatic Glock, knowing that he was a convicted felon and prohibited from possessing it.
McKinney is scheduled to be sentenced on November 6. Both sides have agreed to recommend a sentence of 19 years in prison.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the East St. Louis Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Bluestone is prosecuting the case.
