Suspect In Home Invasion of Jeweler Awaits May 25 Court

A 47-year-old man charged with 10 counts in the armed home invasion robbery of a Chesterfield jeweler and his wife, now has a May 25 court date for a settlement conference.

Richard James Lynch, the suspect, was released six months earlier from 17 years in prison for two burglaries and one robbery according to court records, when he was

Lynch was listed with an O'Fallon address between release from prison and the return to jail after this latest arrest.

The upcoming settlement conference for Lynch would typically be the start of discussions among attorneys and the court over how to proceed in the case.

Discovery (or fact-finding) in the case could potentially put Lynch in violation of any probation or parole that existed on his release from prison in February on a previous robbery conviction.

Chesterfield police said they were on the lookout for the suspect in the armed home invasion case, after a pawn shop employee identified Lynch as trying to unload the stolen property, and provided a fingerprint.

Police nabbed him in a car, driving in Chesterfield just days afterward.

Lynch is accused of laying in wait outside the home of a local jeweler's condo near Woods Mill and Olive roads, about 10pm February 25, and holding a gun to the jeweler's head, holding the jeweler's wife hostage, and robbing the victims of valuables. Two young children were in a bedroom nearby.

Lynch is charged on 10 counts linked to the home invasion, including armed criminal action, burglary, robbery 1st-degree, felony restraint and assault.

Police said the suspect pistol-whipped the jeweler in the head, when he uttered a surprised reaction.

Lynch was indicted by a grand jury April 18 in St. Louis County Court, and arraigned April 25. He remains jailed, records show.