Episode 686 – Jeepers Killing or Getting Killed
This Is Why You Always Pay With Cash and Do Your Own Work
A Jeep service receipt helped authorities track down a recent St. Louis murder suspect.
Prosecutors have charged 30-year-old Christopher Vales, with first-degree murder, first-degree assault, and two counts of armed criminal action in connection with the investigation. Authorities arrested Vales on Aug. 5 after he was accused of a man’s shooting death several months prior. On March 10th, Vales reportedly fired shots at Juan Wilson outside the Mobil gas station in the 4000 block of Union Boulevard.
According to the court documents, Wilson was heading to the gas station to meet a relative for some marijuana. After Wilson arrived, investigators say Vales fired shots from his vehicle. Surveillance video from the store shows the suspect was driving a Jeep Wrangler when the shots were fired, quickly passing by and leaving the scene of the shooting. While police investigated the case, they found a Jeep at a nearby home consistent with one from surveillance video in the murder nearly three months after the shooting. A relative of Wilson lived at that home and claimed to be the owner of the Jeep in question.
Police later acquired a warrant to search the home of the Jeep nonetheless, and found a receipt from a Dobbs Tire & Auto Center claiming that service work had been done on the Jeep just a few days before. Police then issued a warrant for information relevant to that service. According to court documents, that then led officers to Vales’ Facebook page that had several pictures of him and the Jeep. Authorities also reviewed phone records that revealed Vales’ phone had pinged the nearest cellular tower to the Dobbs Service center during the time mechanics worked on the vehicle. This was enough evidence to connect Christopher Vales to that particular Jeep, matching the one in the surveillance footage. Investigators have not yet disclosed a motive in the shooting, and it will have to be proven that he was either driving that Jeep or firing the gun at the time of the shooting in order for a conviction to stick. For now, Vales is being held in the St. Louis City Jail without bond.
He will have his day in court, the first hearing, in this case, is scheduled for Oct. 18th.
Just In The Nick Of Time
It’s time once again for the annual Cops Connecting with Kids fundraiser. The event features hundreds of people driving their Jeeps from Evansville Indiana to Henderson Kentucky. Participants will gather Saturday morning at North High School for the annual “Back the Blue Jeep Rally.” The event is a chance 
for local supporters of law enforcement to donate money to an organization that helps area youth. The money raised supports the Cops Connecting with Kids program that sends some area students to spend a week with police officers at Disney World in Florida. Founded in Evansville, Indiana in 2014, Cops Connecting With Kids is a registered 501c3 that uses the joy and fun of Walt Disney World to build trust and understanding between law enforcement and youth. As of June 2021, over 330 kids have experienced Disney Magic! Registration for this year’s event starts at 9:00 a.m. on October 1st at North High, before driving to Audubon Chrysler in Henderson at 11:30 for a celebration event. If you’re hearing this after the fact and would like to learn more about the organization or how you can help, we’ll have a link for you in the show notes for this episode at Jeeptalkshow.com.
Cops Connecting With Kids Disney Adventure – https://www.facebook.com/CopsConnectingWithKidsDisneyAdventure/about
A Somber Week For Jeepers
My research for this show consists of hours of sifting through headlines, validating stories, and digging to find the best pics associated with the story all to provide you the Jeeper listening with great content relative to what’s going on in the Jeep world. This week, however, had me shaking my head over what I saw. Search after search, different search engines even, the results were the same. First-page search results for Jeep news, show multiple casualties populating the first page. Every other headline involves a Jeeper dying in one kind of a crash or another. Or a Jeeper killing someone in either a vehicular accident 
or worse. In the last month alone, I’ve counted no less than seven headlines involving a Jeeper running someone over, one involving a baby stroller. Thankfully the child suffered only minor injuries but still. So in that light, I feel obligated to use this platform to provide a public service announcement. The Jeep Talk Show reaches tens of thousands of people all across the U.S. and beyond. So if I can get even a fraction of one percent of you to listen to me, then we just might be able to reduce the number of these headlines and the deaths associated with them. So I urge you, to pay attention to the road, and your surroundings. Be vigilant, put your head on a swivel, and for F’s sake, put your phone on silent when you get into the Jeep. Turn your alerts off. You don’t need to see that jakie2003 in bum-fart Wyoming just liked your post about oatmeal for lunch. And you certainly don’t need to watch how-to videos while driving. Learn how to diagnose your check engine light in the driveway, not the freeway. You can catch up with social media, texts, and anything else when you get to where you’re going. It’s just not worth it. I know there’s nothing you can do about acts of god, like that tree that fell over killing a Kingsport, Tennessee woman in a recent storm they had. But what you can do is increase your awareness, and maybe we can see a change in the trend of these headlines lately.
Newbie Nuggets with Wendy
Distracted much?
Have you ever been distracted to the point you leave something on the trail, or worse yet you leave something open on your jeep? Well, we were pre-running a trail for an event coming up and Bill and I were airing down Don’s Jeep and it started to rain as I got our air down system out of the back of our jeep to help and I closed the window and tailgate but left the tire carrier open since all the equipment was going back in our jeep.
Long story short, the rain started dumping and then hailing. We were both soaked through our jackets and shoes within a few seconds it was raining so hard, plus the lightning and simultaneous thunder. I jumped back in the jeep – no sense the two of us getting soaked. Bill finished airing down and he put the “equipment” in the back of Don’s jeep and away we went. As we started out a few hundred feet, I heard over the radio “you left the tire carrier open”. I was so surprised I had done that. We always double-check before we take off. However, the rain was such a distraction, and quite frankly an oddity out here in SoCal, that I completely forgot to check everything. Plus we didn’t put the equipment back in OUR jeep, it went in the back of Don’s Jeep.
So as a reminder, don’t let distractions of any kind, like dogs, kids, or rain and hail, keep you from making sure your equipment, Jeep, and anything else is put away correctly. Luckily for us, we only went a short distance and the carrier is fine, but anyone can get distracted on the trail. Especially when things get hectic.
And BTW the wheeling was awesome!! We haven’t wheeled in running, gushing water on trails, and overflowing the sides of the trails like that in a long time. There were huge water-filled holes – I’ll call them mini lakes- that we couldn’t avoid and had to drive through them so the mud got everywhere and the clean-up was harsh. But all in all, it was a great day.
Just a reminder: the JTS SoCal Event is October 15-16th. We are running three black diamond trails over two days. Plus you get to meet and wheel with some of the hosts and zoom people. We have a dinner planned for Saturday night (thank you to Scott and Becky) so if you want to join us, go to JeepTalkShow.Com – look for episode 666 and fill out the entry form. We are limiting jeeps for this event so sign up soon – the deadline is October 6th – and there are a few spots still open.
JTS California Event Form – https://jeeptalkshow.com/JTSeventbigbear/
Jeep Talk Show Gladiator Update
KC Hilites, https://www.kchilites.com/
Cyclone V2 LED $30.99
Clear Lens – Flood Pattern – 600 lumens
.42a
IP rating IP68
Cyclone V2 LED – Mount Adapter – Surface
Motobilt CRUSHER SERIES FRONT BUMPER W/ BULL BAR FOR JEEP JL / JT GLADIATOR
Light in front of the tire and not on top
My driving lights work again!
Must-Have Stuff Pick-of-the-Week for your Jeep!
Back-Up Light Harness for 07-18 Jeep Wrangler JK/JKU $30
https://www.quadratec.com/p/quadratec/back-light-harness-jeep-wrangler-jk
Whether backing out of the driveway, the parking spot at the mall, or backing down off that obstacle at night, you need to see what’s behind your Jeep. And I swear to god if you say “well that’s what my backup camera is for” I’m going to beat you with a length of rubber hose. The best way to see behind you at night is with lumens. Let’s face it, backup camera lenses can fog up, get dirty, and restrict clean clear vision. And that is assuming your Jeep even has one. Millions of Jeeps are out there without this technology, so let’s get back to doing things the old-fashioned way, by opening our eyes, and turning our heads. That still won’t do you any good with the lackluster reverse lighting found on virtually every single Jeep ever made. So here is where the aftermarket steps in with a proven solution. More light. But adding a set of auxiliary lights to the back of the Jeep means wiring, and using tools that you may not have.
Just being honest here, vehicle wiring is not for everyone, and we’ve all seen examples of something that was wired up in a Jeep that leaves you wondering just how the hell it’s not on fire already. You’ve got to find and then mount the lights, buy the wiring, a fuse holder, run a power wire, maybe even hook up a relay, mount a switch, run all the wires clean and nice, and hope you don’t screw it up. I can help you with everything but the light choice. Once you’ve got your cube lights pickled out, or whatever auxiliary lighting devices you’ve chosen for this task, it’s time to wire them up, and here is a plug-and-play system that makes it as easy as …well… plug and play. Quadratec has a Back-Up Light Harness that makes it super simple to add a pair of lights to work with your 2007-2018 Wrangler’s stock backup lights giving you a brighter path to navigate.
Their plug-and-play wiring harness turns on your choice of LED accessory lights in conjunction with your factory backup lights whenever your Jeep is placed in reverse, without the need for an additional switch or relay. The wiring attaches to your left tail lamp allowing you to use a set of cube lights or any other lighting devices as additional backup lights. By adding extra lights to the rear of your Jeep, you will see better at night while backing up which can be very helpful both on and off the trails.
Links Mentioned in this Episode
NEXEN Tires USA https://www.nexentireusa.com/
Trails 411- POWERING Your Adventure https://www.youtube.com/user/backcountrydriver
The 4×4 Radio Network http://4x4radionetwork.com/
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