A St. Louis teen who was in a deadly car accident days after his 18th birthday says he was victimized twice after a firefighter on the scene stole his wallet.
Seven Robinson-Laney was in a fatal car accident on Feb. 26 that claimed the lives of four of eight people riding in a Chevy Tahoe.
The accident occurred at approximately 1:30 a.m. near South Grand Boulevard and Forest Park Avenue after a driver later identified as 34-year-old Cedric Dixon ran a red light and hit the SUV Robinson-Laney was riding in that day.
The SUV went over a guardrail and landed upside down on the concrete below an overpass, killing four of the teen’s friends, 19-year-old Anthony Robinson, 19-year-old Richard Boyd, 18-year-old Bryanna Dentman-Johnson, and Corntrail McKinley, 20.
Robinson-Laney said that he was able to pull himself from the wreckage and as he lay on the ground, a firefighter at the scene asked him if he had any identification. The teen pulled out his wallet and gave it to the man, who he thought at the time was a police officer.
“I’d lost a lot of blood, and my vision was blurred, and I said, ‘Man, I don’t even know your name,’” he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “And he just told me not to worry, saying, ‘You’re good, you’re good.’”
Robinson-Laney was taken to Barnes-Jewish Hospital and asked again for his ID.
“That’s when I remembered that I’d given my wallet to someone, and I told a police officer.”
“Every time I close my eyes, I see it,” another survivor Courtney McKinley told KSDK News with tears streaming down his face. “I can’t move my arm. You got to move it for me; I can’t move it. It hurt. You could take this off, and you can see my bone sticking up,” he added as he pointed to his arm. “All of my people,” he said. “All of ’em.”
Courtney and Corntrail McKinley’s mother also accused the first responders of neglecting the victims of the crash because they saw a firearm in the SUV.
“They had to walk themselves to the EMS,” she said. “Broken bones, broken spine, broken ribs, collapsed lungs. Broke back. They had to walk. It took civilians to help them.”
A few days after he was discharged from the hospital, Robinson-Laney discovered someone had been using his debit card. The 18-year-old also said that he’d had $600 in cash in his wallet along with two $50 gift cards that he’d just gotten for his birthday that he never got back.
The charges total $120, and one was made a few hours after the crash between 7:45 a.m. and 8:05 a.m. One of the charges was for a car wash, but Robinson-Laney doesn’t own a vehicle. “Why would I buy a car wash membership when I don’t even have a vehicle?”
Video from the scene captured the firefighter putting Robinson-Laney’s wallet in his pocket, and the firefighter has been interviewed by the police. The teen and his mother were allowed to view the video at the Fourth District station on North Jefferson Avenue.
The firefighter claimed that he used the debit card by mistake, thinking it was his own because the card was issued by the same credit union as his own debit card
His mother, Kyona Robinson, received a bill from the fire department for her son’s ride to the hospital. Robinson said that she doesn’t believe the firefighter made a mistake because her son’s wallet was not returned and his debit card was inside the wallet. The wallet was also monogrammed with his initials.
“I can’t believe someone would use this as an opportunity to steal. That’s just horrible,” she added. “I just want justice for my son.”
A spokesman for the SLPD said, “A person of interest has been developed, however, no arrest has been made as of yet.”
SLPD spokesman Sgt. Charles Wall said in a statement: “As it relates to that crash at Forest Park and South Grand, we have opened an investigation into an alleged theft that occurred from that scene and a person of interest has been developed. No arrests have been made at this time.”
“Investigators are still working to gather additional evidence, and once their investigation is complete, they anticipate presenting the case to the St. Louis Circuit Attorney for any charges.”
