No. 23-2320 ___________________________

United States of America

lllllllllllllllllllllPlaintiff - Appellee

v.

Drew Hamilton Clark

lllllllllllllllllllllDefendant - Appellant ____________

Appeal from United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri - St. Louis ____________

Submitted: April 10, 2024 Filed: September 10, 2024 ____________ Before LOKEN, MELLOY, and KOBES, Circuit Judges. ____________ LOKEN, Circuit Judge.

Within a few hours on May 26, 2021, using a stolen handgun, Drew Clark committed three car thefts, entered two homes and a manufacturing campus where he stole personal items and terrorized a homeowner, and struggled with police officers who attempted to arrest him. A jury convicted Clark of possessing a stolen firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(j), three counts of carjacking in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2119, and three associated counts of brandishing a firearm during the carjackings in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(1)(A)(ii). The district court1 sentenced him to 339 months imprisonment. Clark appeals his conviction on two carjacking and associated brandishing charges. Concluding the evidence was sufficient for a reasonable jury to find he committed these offenses, we affirm.

I. Background

We summarize the relevant trial evidence “in the light most favorable to the verdict.” United States v. Long Pumpkin, 56 F.4th 604, 610 (8th Cir. 2022).

The first car theft on the day in question occurred at the Buzzi Unichem terminal in St. Louis, where tanker trucks are loaded to haul cement. A fence surrounds the facility on all sides; there is only one entry and exit point. About 11:30 a.m., employee Daniel Becker noticed an unfamiliar vehicle parked on the worksite. Becker and others then saw someone in a contractor’s pickup try to leave the site by driving through a ditch and into a neighboring business facility. Becker and others pursued in two vehicles and trapped the pickup by blocking the facility exit. The thief abandoned the pickup, climbed over a fence back onto the Buzzi site, and entered an unlocked Dodge Ram that was kept with the keys inside as a “yard truck” used as needed for work purposes. The thief began driving the Dodge Ram toward the Buzzi exit. Becker drove back to that exit and blocked it with his vehicle. Reaching the exit, the thief pointed a gun at Becker who decided the “truck ain’t worth saving” and moved out of the way. The thief left the Buzzi facility in the Dodge Ram. The jury found that Clark was the thief and convicted him of carjacking (Count 2) and brandishing a firearm against Becker (Count 3).

1 The Honorable Stephen R. Clark, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

-2- Clark then drove the Dodge Ram to the Soulard neighborhood where he entered the home of Andrew Paniello and stole multiple items, and then entered the nearby home of T.G., an oncology social worker pursuing a doctorate in social work. T.G. testified that she returned home around 12:30 p.m. As she entered her living room, her golden retriever stood up and looked toward the back door. When T.G. looked in that direction, she saw an intruder (Clark) standing outside the glass door and began screaming. Clark came inside. T.G. ran to the front door to escape. Clark caught her, held a gun to her head, and asked how much money was in her wallet. T.G. said none, pointed to car keys she dropped while