A St. Joseph man has been charged in connection with a carjacking last week at U.S. Oil in midtown that resulted in the death of a 77-year-old man.

Paul Albert Belding, 27 is charged in Buchanan County with a felony for second-degree murder in connection with the death of Richard Marion Gray of St. Joseph.

The prosecutor’s office said Belding is charged with causing Gray’s death by causing head injuries to the victim while stealing the victim’s van.  The charge carries a punishment range of 10 to 30 years or life in prison.  85-percent of any sentence is required to be served before becoming eligible for parole.

According to court documents, on June 13 Belding fled from the Community Supervision Center at Probation and Parole located in the 3300 block of Faraon St. and was seen on video surveillance from U.S. Oil and Domino’s at 22nd and Messanie Streets where video footage recorded the theft of the van owned by the victim.

“Following a struggle between the victim and the suspect.  The defendant fled the scene in the stolen van and caused the victim to be thrown from the van and suffer serious head injuries,” said Det. C. Davis with the St. Joseph Police Department. “According to statements taken from witnesses, the defendant committed the carjacking that led to this death.”

Belding had an active felony warrant from probation and parole when he was arrested.  Davis said Belding also has an extensive criminal history including convictions for drugs, assault, and stealing of a motor-vehicle.

“He has arrests for drugs, parole violation, property damage, failure to appear, stealing of a M/V, domestic assault, stealing M/V parts, assault 2nd, and possession of a gambling device,” Davis said.

Court document said Gray died over the weekend from head injuries he sustained after being drug by a vehicle.

An arraignment has been scheduled for Friday at 8:15 a.m.  Bail for Belding has been set at $150,000 cash only.

(Update 11 p.m.) – The Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department said a man’s body has been recovered from the water where a submerged vehicle was found Tuesday evening just south of St. Joseph.

According to Col. Bill Puett with the department, deputies received a 911 call around 7:24 p.m. of a partially submerged vehicle in the water near Bankers Crossing just off of 59 Highway. Puett said when deputies arrived on scene less than 12 minutes later the vehicle was fully submerged.

“Deputies swam out and started looking for a vehicle and located one in the water,” Puett said. “One deputy stayed with the vehicle and tried to search it and didn’t locate anyone while the vehicle was under water.”

A tow truck pulled the vehicle out and no one was found inside. Puett said the Missouri State Highway Patrol was called in to assist and began dragging the water and authorities then pulled man’s body from the pond.

Sgt. Jake Angle with the highway patrol said the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control has been requested and will be leading the investigation.  He said further information will be provided as the investigation moves forward.

Puett previously said the highway patrol is taking over the lead on the case as it appears to be a fatal car crash. However, Angle said he cannot confirm that as authorities are still investigating to determine what happened.

The investigation continues.

Rosecrans Memorial Airport has been forced to close its runway after heat caused its main runway to buckle.

“We have a main runway that’s 8,000 foot long and right in the middle of it, 4,000 foot down the runway we had some concrete buckle,” said Abe Forney, Rosecrans General Manager. “This hot air that we’ve had hasn’t given time for the soil temperatures to heat up slowly and so when it does it rapidly I guess that concrete expands fast and unfortunately this happened.”

Forney said the runway was closed Tuesday morning around 8-thirty.

“The crosswind runway is currently being reconstructed so they’re pouring brand new concrete on that and unfortunately this happened on the main runway so the whole airport is currently closed,” Forney said.

He said crews are cutting the concrete and working to remove about 30 panels.

“Hopefully they will pour the concrete tomorrow,” Forney said. “That concrete needs to cure so we don’t have an exact time or date but we’re doing our best to try to get things patched up as soon as possible so I don’t have an exact time or date.”

He said worst case scenario the airport could be closed for around a week. The cost of the project is unknown at this time.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The man accused of fatally shooting a Kansas City, Kansas, police detective has agreed to be returned to Kansas from Missouri for prosecution.

Curtis Ayers had been hospitalized under guard until Monday since being shot May 9 by police during his arrest in Kansas City, Missouri, hours after prosecutors said he killed Brad Lancaster near the Kansas Speedway.

As we previously reported, Lancaster had ties to St. Joseph.  The 39-year-old graduated from the law enforcement academy at Missouri Western State University in 1998.

Ayers on Tuesday signed extradition paperwork and agreed to be transferred to Kansas, where he faces a murder charge carrying the possible death penalty if he’s convicted.

Twenty-nine-year-old Ayers also faces charges in Missouri’s Jackson County and Kansas’ Leavenworth County for alleged crimes that followed the shooting involving Lancaster.

Police used Lancaster’s handcuffs on Ayers when they transported him Monday from the hospital to jail.

(AP and Post)

Police have confirmed that the victim of a carjacking last week at U.S. Oil in midtown St. Joseph has died.

Capt. Jeff Wilson said Monday that Richard Marion Gray, 77 has died as a result of injuries he sustained during the incident.

As we previously reported, police said Gray was attempting to stop another man from stealing his van last Monday around 5 p.m. at the gas station located at 601 S. 22nd St. In his attempt to keep the man from taking the vehicle Gray was reported to have fallen from the van and hit his head.

The vehicle was recovered later that same day and Thursday authorities said they had identified a person of interest in the case.

Wilson said detectives are currently working closely with the prosecutor’s office. He said no further information can be released at this time due to the status of the investigation.

(Update 11:20 a.m.) – Photos taken from surveillance footage after a bank robbery Monday morning in Platte County have been released.

According to Bridget Patton with the FBI around 8:50 a.m. man carrying a black portfolio entered the Platte Valley Bank located at 102 Main St. in Dearborn and provided the teller with a note demanding the money then fled with an undisclosed amount of cash. Patton said no weapon was displayed and no one was injured.

The suspect is described as a white man with brown hair in his 40s to 50s about 5’10” and around 160lbs with tattoos on both arms and the left side of his neck. He was last seen wearing a black shirt and black jeans.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Platte County Sheriff’s Office at 816-858-3521. The Sheriff’s office said not to confront the suspicious persons but instead to notify law enforcement and provide them with the information.