BRAGGING RIGHTS

Teen Mastermind Behind Missouri Jailbreak Later Called Guards to Gloat: Docs

Azavian Royal was also allegedly involved in a robbery at a local Family Dollar, telling the clerk he held at gunpoint, “C’mon girl. This is St. Louis. You know what this is.”

A teenage escape artist who jumped 30 feet out of a Missouri juvenile detention center window and bolted—a day after allegedly having arranged a similar escape for three fellow inmates—later called guards to boast about it, according to court records obtained by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Azavian Royal, 17, was charged Friday as an adult with felony counts of escape from confinement and first-degree property damage after the May 29 escape. During his preening phone call to guards at the St. Louis County Juvenile Detention Center a few days later, Royal took credit for the act, further claiming he’d helped mastermind a May 28 jailbreak in which three other 17-year-olds attacked an employee, stole his keys, and escaped out a broken window, police said. Royal was also charged in an armed robbery at a local Family Dollar that took place roughly a week later. According to charging documents, after entering in a black mask, Royal told the clerk, “C’mon girl. This is St. Louis. You know what this is.” He and another teen then held her at gunpoint, leaving with $167.