ST. LOUIS - A 19-year-old St. Louis man has been accused in a federal indictment of robbing someone at gunpoint on the grounds of Gateway Arch National Park, a case that investigators say stemmed from an online arrangement to buy shoes.
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Thomas Durgins was indicted on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on one count of robbery and one count of brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
The indictment accuses Durgins of stealing money and shoes from someone on the Arch grounds on Feb. 1, 2026, at gunpoint.
Durgins was arrested on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, and appeared in court on Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, where he pleaded not guilty.
A motion seeking to have Durgins held in jail until trial says he had arranged online to buy shoes, but instead produced a firearm and robbed the seller.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Szczucinski is prosecuting.
Charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
