According to court documents, Gross is wanted for skipping out on court dates for three separate cases. On Tuesday, officers found him after they received a tip. “I didn't cause any trouble,” Gross told a KSPR News photojournalist. During his arrest, Gross had a question for police. “So what are you guys trying to get me with?” Gross asked an officer placing him in a patrol car. The officer told Gross he is under arrest for first degree robbery.
“Our officers were following up on a tip of a wanted suspect,” Springfield Police Department Lt. Kevin Grizzell said. Officers spotted a car Gross was known to be driving. “A semi blocked the view of it and shortly after that the vehicle took off down an alley,” Grizzell said. Officers found the car ditched in an alley near Brower Street. “He ran over to the house on Brower,” Grizzell said. “Everybody was cooperative on Brower. We called him out of the house and he came out without incident.”
Last year Gross was charged with targeting women in grocery store parking lots. Police say he ripped a purse from one woman's arms at the Price Cutter on Grand and tried to steal from two other women at Dillons grocery store on St. Louis.
After attempting to steal purses from women at a Dillons, police say Gross crashed into a parked truck. They say he then ran a red light which caused a multi vehicle crash during his attempt to get away. During the purse snatching incident, officers say Gross almost ran someone over.
Grizzell says Gross is also accused of the attempted robbery at the Kum and Go on March 29 of this year. On Tuesday, Gross wasn't armed but officers say he may have been in March. “He reached into his waistband as if he had one and demanded money,” Grizzell said.
