MALDEN — A Dunklin County jury convicted a Malden man Friday of attempting to break into a home as he was fleeing from fugitive recovery agents trying to arrest him on outstanding warrants.
The jury deliberated about an hour and 20 minutes in convicting Xavier M. Ray, 36, of the Class C felony of first-degree attempted burglary, according Dunklin County Prosecuting Attorney Nicholas Jain.
Ray was convicted of an incident that occurred at about 5 p.m. on March 6, Jain said.
“The evidence presented at trial was that the defendant had warrants for his arrest when fugitive recovery agents associated with a bail bond company tried to apprehend him,” Jain said in a news release.
While running from those agents, Jain said, Ray attempted to break into a Malden home on Gertie Street.
“The homeowner had to physically hold on to his door to prevent the defendant from getting inside,” Jain said. “(Ray) was trying to evade capture, so he would not be returned to the Scott County court, which had issued warrants against him for failing to appear in court.”
Ray, according to Casenet, has two cases pending in Scott County in which he is charged with the Class E felony of unlawfully receiving public assistance benefits and the Class C felonies of receiving stolen property and delivery of a controlled substance.
“Soon after the attempted burglary, the agents apprehended him and later the Malden Police Department arrested (Ray),” Jain said.
Since Ray was charged as a prior and persistent offender, sentencing was taken away from the jury and given to Presiding Circuit Judge Robert Mayer.
The judge, Jain said, ordered a sentencing assessment report to be completed by Probation and Parole and set sentencing for 10 a.m. March 11.
“Based on the defendant’s prior felony convictions for robbery and distributing a controlled substance near a school, he is considered a prior and persistent offender and faces up to 15 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections,” Jain said.