ST. LOUIS — Charges have been announced against a man accused of driving around a police barricade and crashing into several patrol cars on the McKinley Bridge Wednesday, about an hour after an officer had been fatally struck in the same spot.
Darrell Lane, 34, of St. Louis, is charged with two counts of aggravated assault and one count of aggravated fleeing or attempting to flee a peace officer, the Madison County State's Attorney's Office announced Monday.
Police said he was not connected to the earlier incident that killed Brooklyn Officer Brian Pierce Jr. Pierce had been putting out spike strips at around 3 a.m. when a Dodge Charger that was being pursued from Brooklyn, Illinois struck him. He was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
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At around 3:50 a.m., as officials were investigating the scene, Lane is alleged to have sped around police barricades in a Kia Optima, the state's attorney said. He hit several vehicles and nearly struck several officers. Police then fired shots at his vehicle and struck him.
All four people in the car were taken into custody at the scene, and Lane was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
"Law enforcement officers are true heroes who put their lives on the line every day to ensure our safety and security, and our office will always seek to bring justice to those who threaten the lives of our first responders,” Madison County State's Attorney Tom Haine said in a press release.
The aggravated assault charges are class 3 felonies and punishable with up to 25 months of probation, and/or two to five years in prison.
As of Monday morning, Lane was being held in St. Louis awaiting extradition to Madison County.
The car that struck Pierce was found abandoned in Missouri. No one has yet been charged in his death.