// a href = ./ //

PECULIAR, Mo. (AP) — A 21-year-old Missouri man is accused of impersonating a police officer during two traffic stops, including one that sparked an armed confrontation with a shotgun-toting teenager.

The Kansas City Star reports Beaudonavan Martin Jr. of Peculiar has been charged with two felony counts of unlawful use of a weapon and one misdemeanor count of impersonating an officer.

One man told police the suspect was "cussing and very angry" during an encounter Tuesday night. In a second case that night, a teenage couple asked a friend to get his shotgun because someone was tailgating them and flashing his lights.

The two victims arrived at the friend's location and say the suspect got out of his vehicle holding a handgun and ordered the teen with the shotgun to drop it.

A 17-year-old has been charged for shooting and killing a 13-year-old Granite City boy this week.

Police say LaRoyce McFadden started shooting at Clayton Veninga on Wednesday evening. Veninga was hit and died from his wounds.

Police have not released a motive for the shooting, but McFadden faces first degree murder charges.

No suspect is in custody after a victim was gunned down in St. Louis.

41-year-old Terrance Morgan was shot around 5PM yesterday just blocks from the Scott Joplin Historic Court House. Witnesses told officers they saw a black man leaving the scene, but no description has been given. Anyone with information is asked to call CrimeStoppers.

A 34-year-old man faces several charges after prosecutors say he tried to rape a Bridgeton woman before violently attacking her with a hammer.

Police say on April 21 Daniel Lee broke into the woman's home to steal coins. Lee found the home owner then allegedly tried to rape her and started to viciously beat her with the hammer. During the arrest, police say Lee also tried to grab an officer's gun.

St. Louis Public School officials have placed a high school teacher on leave after he allegedly had sex with a student.

Court documents say David Marler had sex with a male student at Soldan High School. Marler also allegedly gave the same student an inhalant that made him dizzy and lightheaded. Marler faces eleven charges, including sodomy, sexual contact with a student, and endangering the welfare of a child.

The school placed Marler on leave on Monday.

St. Louis Police are asking any parents who believe their kids may have been victimized by Marler to call the Child Abuse unit at 314.444.5385.

DIXON, Ill. (AP) - The Lee County state's attorney says she decided to drop state charges against former Dixon Comptroller Rita Crundwell because a second trial after her conviction in federal court would not result in additional jail time or restitution.

Crundwell admitted in the federal case that she stole nearly $54 million in public money from the northern Illinois city over some two decades that she served as its bookkeeper.

The Lee County prosecutor, Anna Sacco-Miller, said Tuesday that any sentence in the state proceedings would be served concurrently with the nearly 20 years that Crundwell received in February in the federal case. As a result, she says, the expense to taxpayers of a second trial cannot be justified.

The charges can be refiled if Crundwell's appeal of her federal sentence is successful.

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — A St. Louis man is facing charges for potentially exposing police officers to the virus that causes AIDS.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that 42-year-old David Williamson is charged with exposing another person to HIV infection for an incident that happened last May in St. Louis County.

Prosecutors say a Clayton officer responded to a report of a possible drunk-driving suspect slumped behind the wheel of a car. Authorities say Williamson refused to get out.

Williamson struggled with two officers, causing cuts to their skin and his. Williamson was taken to a hospital and told a doctor he was HIV-positive.

Clayton police declined to comment on the condition of the officers but both remain on duty.

Williamson is jailed on $25,000 bond.

ST. LOUIS (AP) - The last two of 24 members of an outlaw biker gang indicted on charges ranging from racketeering to robbery to murder have been sentenced.

Anthony "Blade" Robinson of Chicago was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to life in prison without parole. He was convicted of murder last year. Meanwhile, Jerry "Angel" Peteet of Gary, Ind., was sentenced to 23 years in prison for racketeering. He is a former lawyer for the club.

The 2011 indictment named members of the Wheels of Soul gang. Prosecutors say the violent gang members were involved in drive-by shootings, armed robberies, drug dealing. The gang was headquartered in Philadelphia but had 400 members in 25 states.

Most of the men charged in the indictment pleaded guilty.

KINLOCH, Mo. (AP) — The owner of a salvage yard in the impoverished St. Louis County town of Kinloch — a man who also owns Kinloch City Hall — is accused of receiving stolen property.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that 37-year-old Robert Hill Junior has been the subject of a lengthy investigation. Police say his business, Complete Auto Recycling Services, knowingly purchased six stolen vehicles in 2011.

Hill declined comment.

Hill purchased the City Hall building and several other properties in Kinloch over a seven-month period in 2011 and 2012. He allowed city officials to use City Hall for about a year. But later, he was accused by the city of failing to pay the money he had promised for the properties.

The city now operates at Kinloch Learning Center.

   The FBI has released images of two suspects connected to the Boston Marathon Bombing.

   Officials say the suspects are armed and dangerous and no one should approach them or try to apprehend them.

   The FBI says no piece of information is too small.

   More FBI pictures, including higher quality photos can be found here.