Fleeing St. Louis murder suspect arrested at Gainesville gas station


Last week officers with the Missouri State Highway Patrol apprehended Tony Hager, a 22-year-old Imperial man who is charged with murdering a 25-year-old man in St. Louis County on Jan. 16.

On Jan. 19, at the Gainesville Bullseye/Subway store, officers with the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) apprehended a man wanted in connection with a Jan. 16 murder in St. Louis County. 

Tony Hager, 22, of Imperial, was arrested without incident at the Gainesville convenience store. 

He was held in the Ozark County Jail until Jan. 20, when he was transferred to the custody of the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Department. He’s being held on a $250,000 cash-only bond and is charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action. 

Three other suspects, 46-year-old Jacinda R. Busiek, 28-year-old Austin Fisher of Imperial and 20-year-old Jordan A. Levis of Arnold, who were riding with Hager in his SUV, were also arrested at the scene, according to the MSHP online arrest report. 

The three individuals were cited for obstructing justice and hindering the prosecution of a felony. 

MSHP Sgt. Jeff Kinder told the Times that Troop G was contacted around 11 a.m. Jan. 19 by the St. Louis County Police Department. 

The STCPD said they’d been “pinging” Hager’s cell phone throughout the day tracing the murder suspect’s route southwest. The officers received information that Hager stopped at a convenience store in Winona. 

Officers with Troop G and the Shannon County Sheriff’s Department responded to the store and reviewed security footage. The video showed Hager had been at the store and was driving a dark colored Chevrolet SUV. 

The STCPD continued to ping the cell phone every 15 minutes as it traveled toward Ozark County. Around 1:30 p.m. a MSHP officer in the area spotted the vehicle at Bullseye in Gainesville. 

Three additional MSHP officers in the area responded to the store and found the vehicle matching the description of the one Hager was driving earlier in the day at the Winona store. 

They arrested Hager and the three passengers without incident. The four were transported to jail. 

Officers say Hager is suspected of shooting and killing 25-year-old Austin Vines and his dog in St. Louis County. The shooting occurred at 3:25 p.m. Jan. 16 in the 600 block of Greenhurst Court. When officers arrived at the scene they found Vines and the dog with gunshot wounds. Vines was taken to the hospital for medical treatment, but later died. The dog also died. 

Ozark County Times

504 Third Steet
PO Box 188
Gainesville, MO 65655

Phone: (417) 679-4641
Fax: (417) 679-3423