St. Louis: Man Charged After Allegedly Following $3,203 Casino Winner Across State Line

A St. Louis man is charged with robbery after police say he watched a woman win $3,203 on the slots at the Casino Queen in East St. Louis, Illinois, then followed her across the Mississippi River and pulled a gun on her.

Ronell L. Williams, 36, faces charges of first-degree robbery and armed criminal action, according to the Missouri Case.net listing for the case, which was filed in the City of St. Louis on October 10. The allegations have not been proven in court.

What police say happened

The woman told police she won the money at the casino on October 6, according to a St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department probable cause statement described by the Belleville News-Democrat.

She drove home over the Eads Bridge into St. Louis and turned onto Lumiere Place Boulevard, FOX 2 reported. That is when a man in a maroon car pulled alongside, signaled for her to roll down her window and told her that her muffler was hanging off, according to court documents cited by KMOV.

She kept driving. According to the documents, the driver kept following her and veered into her lane, forcing her off the road. When she stopped to confront him, he pulled out a gun and told her to give him her money. The encounter happened near 10th and Madison streets on the St. Louis riverfront, the News-Democrat reported.

The reports differ on one point: whether he got any money. The News-Democrat said that was unclear, and KMOV described the charges as stemming from an attempt to rob her.

How investigators connected the casino to the car

The reports point to three pieces of evidence:

• Casino surveillance. Video from the casino allegedly shows Williams watching the woman play and win, following her through the property and then leaving in a maroon car after she drove away.
• The woman’s own account. She described the car to detectives and identified Williams on the casino footage, KMOV reported.
• License-plate readers. Police used license-plate reader data to identify the maroon car, according to the probable cause statement cited by the News-Democrat.

What the court record shows

Game Empress checked the case on Missouri’s public Case.net system on October 13. It shows:

The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office filed the charges, and an arrest warrant was issued on Saturday, October 10, FOX 2 reported.

The listing also settles a spelling question. Some outlets, including Casino.org and the News-Democrat, spelled his first name “Ronnell.” The Case.net listing uses “Ronell.”

Here is what the two charges mean under Missouri law. First-degree robbery covers forcibly stealing property while armed or while displaying what appears to be a deadly weapon, under section 570.023.

A class A felony carries 10 to 30 years or life in prison, under section 558.011.

Under section 571.015, a first conviction for armed criminal action ordinarily carries three to 15 years, consecutive to the sentence for the underlying felony. Higher minimums apply in specified circumstances, including unlawful firearm possession and repeat armed-criminal-action convictions.

Those are the ranges the law allows, not a prediction of any outcome.

Not the first patron targeted

None of the reports or court records cited here accuse Casino Queen of wrongdoing in the October case. But it is not the first time a Casino Queen patron has been targeted after crossing the river into St. Louis.

In March 2025, three people offered a 41-year-old man a ride home from the casino. According to the police account reported by FOX 2, they instead drove him to an alley off Goodfellow Boulevard, where the two men allegedly threatened him with guns and took about $2,500.

Investigators reviewed casino security footage that showed the victim and the suspects leaving the casino and getting into a gray Honda Civic. The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office brought the same two charges Williams now faces, first-degree robbery and armed criminal action.

Winners have been targeted elsewhere, too. In July, a poker player was robbed at his Las Vegas rental after a World Series of Poker session, according to police.

The 2009 case that went to court

On April 12, 2009, St. Louis County resident Mark Myers won about $17,500 at blackjack at Casino Queen. He later sued the casino, alleging that two men saw him cash out, followed his cab home and robbed him there.

Casino Queen first won a dismissal by arguing that courts in Missouri had no jurisdiction over an Illinois casino. In August 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reversed that decision, pointing in part to the casino’s marketing to Missouri residents. The ruling did not decide whether the casino was negligent.

The opinion described precautions the casino offered big winners at the time, including a private room to count winnings, security escorts inside the casino and a security vehicle that could follow a winner’s car. It also said the casino had been aware of three earlier “follow home” robberies. Those descriptions date from 2012 and should not be read as the casino’s current policy.

The casino’s FAQ page, checked October 13, says security officers work throughout the property, including the hotel and the parking lot. It does not mention escorts for winners.

In October 2013, a federal judge allowed Myers to add five casino security officers as defendants and sent the case back to state court in St. Louis County.

Casino.org described the outcome as unclear. The St. Louis County docket on Case.net shows the defendants, including Casino Queen, asked for summary judgment in November 2014. In January 2015, the case was “passed for settlement.” Myers’ lawyers then filed a stipulation of dismissal, and the judge dismissed the case on February 24, 2015.

The listed entries do not disclose settlement terms or establish that the casino was found liable.