ST. LOUIS COUNTY • A man from south St. Louis County has been charged in a string of thefts across St. Louis County over the past few months, including swiping body armor and ammunition from a St. Louis police car.

The suspect told police he took the police gear to support his heroin addiction, charges say.

Timothy Issa, 27, of the 5700 block of Lost Brook Court in the Oakville area, has racked up several theft cases in St. Louis County since Jan. 11.

One of the most recent cases was filed Feb. 3. Issa was charged with stealing police gear from a car parked in front of a St. Louis city officer’s home in the 5900 block of Woodbrook Drive.

When questioned by police, Issa told them he had been walking through the neighborhood in the overnight hours of Dec. 7-8 and took body armor, three loaded ammunition magazines and a flashlight from the unlocked police car. Issa told police he had traded some of the loot for heroin but threw away other stolen items. Police later found a nameplate from the body armor in Issa’s backyard.

Issa was also charged Feb. 3 with a felony count of fleeing the scene of a crash in the 500 block of Forest Green Drive in Webster Groves. Police said Issa was driving Jan. 10 without headlights on when he struck another car and drove off.

In charges filed Jan. 27 and Jan. 11, police said Issa stole five vehicles on five different days in November, December and January in Town and Country, Webster Groves and South County. Some of the victims of those thefts told police they had left their vehicles unlocked or had left car keys inside their vehicles. One of the victims said her car lock had been broken.

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