Conflicting stories after police cruiser crashes into St. Louis bar
ST. LOUIS – FOX 2 has asked the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department for additional clarification after hearing differing accounts about the cause of an overnight crash involving a police vehicle[1].
The crash happened just before 12:30 a.m. Monday at Bar: PM along the 7100 block of South Broadway, in the Carondelet neighborhood. Two St.
Louis police probation officers, each with less than one year of experience, were driving northbound on Broadway in a 2020 Chevrolet Tahoe. The driver lost control of the police vehicle, overcorrected, and crashed into the front facade of the bar. Neither officer was injured in the crash.
Two bar workers, including Chad Morris, who co-owns the bar, were closing up for the evening at the time of the crash. They were also unharmed. Morris lives above the bar with his husband, James Pence.
Pence was in the residence when he heard the crash and came downstairs to see what had happened. Police claim that the driver of the Tahoe “believed he was traveling too close to a parked car” and overcorrected, which led to the crash. However, Pence said the officer behind the wheel told him that he tried to avoid a dog in the roadway and that’s what caused him to lose control and hit the bar.
“I was in bed. I heard a loud bang. I felt the building shake.
I ran down from upstairs. He actually apologized to me. He said, ‘I literally swerved to miss a dog.’ He was very-he was actually extremely nice.
He was the nicest officer out there.” Pence further claims that police put him in handcuffs for a time because there was a conflict over him showing officers his identification. Police made no mention of that in their media statement about the crash.
Morris, who was in the bar when the cruiser struck it, was upset about the crash and confronted officers. Police said Morris began shouting profanity at the officers. Pence said things escalated into a physical confrontation between his husband and officers.
Police allege one of the officers in the cruiser attempted to calm the situation, but Morris shoved that officer in the chest. The other officer attempted to restrain Morris, but he refused commands and was taken to the ground before being placed in handcuffs and arrested. Morris was taken to a hospital after complaining of a pre-existing medical condition.
Later that day, the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office charged Morris with third-degree assault – special victim and resisting arrest. He was jailed without bond.
The investigation regarding the crash is still ongoing. FOX 2 has contacted the SLMPD to ask about the discrepancy between the two accounts over the crash. “I wish they would tell me truly what happened,” Pence said. “Accidents happen.
Any one of us gets into an accident any day, I accept that. Own it, tell me what happened, and fix the building.” A few patrons and close friends stopped by after the sun came up to help clean up the mess and board up the gaping hole.
They want answers.
“We should not have had to stay here all night protecting this building because of what (the police) did, so no one could come in here and steal the stuff out of here,” Jiuliano Mangiore said. “People have been in here 24 hours because we have to defend this for ourselves.”
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References
- ^ overnight crash involving a police vehicle (fox2now.com)
- ^ For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2. (fox2now.com)