By Joe Holleman
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS, Mo. — A remorseful St. Louis firefighter confessed Monday in St. Louis County Circuit Court that he stole a wallet and credit card from the scene of a fatal crash.
Saying his actions put a “stain on the community and the department,” Arnold S. Britt, 41, of Ballwin, pleaded guilty to both a felony and a misdemeanor.
The charges against Britt stem from a fatal crash in February 2023, in which four people in an SUV were killed in a hit-and-run collision at South Grand Boulevard and Forest Park Avenue in St. Louis.
County prosecutors said Monday they are asking for Britt to be sentenced to five years in prison on the felony charge, of receiving stolen property, and one year in jail for the misdemeanor violation, fraudulent use of a credit card.
Circuit Judge David Lee Vincent III told Britt that the usual sentence in such cases, with a defendant like Britt who has no prior convictions, is a suspended imposition of sentence.
But Vincent then noted to Britt that prosecutors are pushing for a more stringent punishment as a “deterrent effect.”
Prosecutor Jay Godsy said after the plea hearing that the county believes the harsher penalty is justified because of Britt’s position as a firefighter.
“He’s a public servant, and he abused his power as a public servant,” Godsy said. “It’s a matter of trust.”
Vincent set sentencing for 9 a.m. Sept. 6.
Britt has been on administrative leave from the city fire department for more than a year. St. Louis Fire Department spokesman Capt. Garon Mosby did not respond to requests for comment.
In the accident 16 months ago that was at the center of the charges against Britt, a driver traveling south on Grand ran a red light and struck the SUV.
The impact pushed the SUV over a guardrail and sent it plummeting to Forest Park Avenue below; the driver fled from the scene.
Occupants of the SUV killed in the crash were Anthony Robinson, 19, of Jennings; Richard Boyd, 19, of Sullivan; Bryanna Dentman-Johnson, 18, of Vinita Park; and Corntrail McKinley, 20, of St. Louis. Four others in the SUV were injured.
Three days after the crash, Cedric Dixon, 34, of St. Louis, surrendered to police and was charged with 17 felonies. In February, 11 months after the crash, Dixon pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, court records show.
One of the injured SUV passengers, Seven Robinson-Laney, of St. Louis, told the Post-Dispatch that his monogrammed wallet — which contained the debit card, two $50 gift cards and more than $600 in cash — had been stolen from the accident scene.
In interviews with police and the Post-Dispatch, Robinson-Laney said after he pulled himself out of the SUV, a man who Robinson-Laney thought was a police officer asked if he had any identification.
Robinson-Laney pulled out his wallet and handed it to the man. The man took out a piece of ID, checked it and handed the ID back to him, but he did not return the wallet, Robinson-Laney said.
“I’d lost a lot of blood and my vision was blurred, and I said, ‘Man, I don’t even know your name,’” Robinson-Laney said. “And he just told me not to worry, saying, ‘You’re good, you’re good.’”
After being released from the hospital two days after the accident, Robinson-Laney filed a complaint with St. Louis police.
St. Louis police conducted an investigation and said that Britt — who was assigned to a fire station close to the accident scene and responded to the accident — can be seen on a body camera video putting the victim’s wallet into his jacket.
Police also said that during questioning, Britt admitted to using Robinson-Laney’s debit card but said he did so by accident. The card was used at three separate locations in west St. Louis County near Britt’s residence: a gas station, a car wash and a convenience store.
The St. Louis circuit attorney’s office, then led by Kimberly M. Gardner, refused to issue any charges against Britt at that time.
The case then was presented to St. Louis County police because that is where the transactions took place.
Godsy told the court that authorities also have video recordings of Britt using the debit card at the three locations.
Britt was originally charged in May 2023, but then the case was held and presented in October to a county grand jury, which issued the two indictments.
Since then, Britt made numerous court appearances, with his case being continued each time. In June, Britt dropped his original attorney, William Goldstein, and retained attorney Joel Schwartz, who accompanied Britt at Monday’s hearing.
Britt has been a city firefighter since December 2013. According to St. Louis city payroll records, Britt earned $85,664 in 2022, including overtime pay.
He also is a former star athlete at Vashon High School who went on to play for the University of Missouri football team as a wide receiver from 2002-04.
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