NORTHWOODS, Mo. — Another Northwoods police officer has been arrested in connection with a police brutality investigation after a man was found bloodied and beaten in a field on July 4.
A St. Louis County police source told 5 On Your Side that a second officer has been charged in connection with the incident.
Michael L. Hill, 51, of East St. Louis was charged Tuesday night with second-degree kidnapping, according to jail records. He was being held on a $100,000 cash-only bond.
His initial court appearance was scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday.
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell released the following statement Wednesday regarding the charges:
"Police officers who commit violence undermine the trust of the community. My office is working to restore that trust by ensuring a fair, transparent investigation and prosecution in cases of police brutality. Officers in St. Louis County have a host of tools to rely on in addressing individuals who commit non-violent offenses, including referring individuals to our Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program or making a proper arrest when public safety demands it. There is no excuse for this criminal conduct, and my office will prosecute these officers to the fullest extent of the law."
It's the second arrest in the case since Samuel Davis, 26, was arrested in North Carolina Monday and charged with first-degree assault, armed criminal action and kidnapping. Police said Davis beat a man he arrested at Walgreens in Northwoods, breaking his jaw and leaving him bloodied in a Kinloch field, according to court documents.
Police said when the man was in the back of Davis' patrol car after they arrested him, Hill went back into the store and made an "incriminating statement" to an employee about what would happen to the victim.
Hill was Davis' supervising officer, according to St. Louis County police.
Court documents said neither officers had their body cameras turned on. They also did not tell dispatch they arrested the man and didn't file a report.
Before joining Northwoods, Davis worked for the North County Police Cooperative from February 2021 through May 2022.
Northwoods Chief Dennis Shireff issued a statement late Monday confirming Davis no longer works for the department. He had been placed on administrative leave during the investigation.
The chief wrote, in part: "Words can barely begin to express the disappointment and the failure of what appears to be a reckless disregard for the humane treatment of others and the solemn duties of a law enforcement officer...This incident is directly contrary to the core values, goals, and policies of our police department and of the City of Northwoods."
The woman who spotted Davis’s Northwoods patrol car on July 4 posted a photo of the victim on Facebook along with a description of what she saw. The photo shows a young man lying on the ground with a bruised, battered and bloodied face.
The witness wrote that she saw an officer standing over the man in the picture. She said that she walked up to the victim and he told her the police beat him in the head.
Davis had handcuffed the man and put him in the back of the squad car, and then turned off his bodycam. Davis then drove to a remote area of Kinloch without telling dispatchers, according to the court documents.
When they arrived in Kinloch, Davis pepper-sprayed the man, repeatedly struck him with a baton and told him to never come back to Northwoods, according to charging documents.
The witness then found the victim, called 911 and posted the photo online. That witness also told police what she saw, and that lined up with what the victim told police, according to court documents.
Davis did not write a police report for the incident at Walgreens that led to the arrest or the incident in Kinloch, according to court documents.
Prosecuting Attorney Bell released the following statement:
"What is alleged in this incident will not be tolerated under my watch. These actions put a black eye on all law enforcement officers who are doing their jobs the right way and who are tired of their profession being dragged through the mud because of the bad actions of a few. We intend to hold anyone who engages in such terrible and reckless behavior accountable for their actions, regardless of their position or title."
Anti-police brutality activist Michelle Smith said she’s happy Davis is charged, but said she’s still unsure if he will actually be held accountable. She said she disagreed with Bell’s office allowing a former officer to participate in a diversion program after the officer shot a woman with her gun instead of her Taser following a shoplifting incident a few years ago.
“Accountability will come at the end once we know what actually happens with this officer,” Smith said. “And that will tell us if he is actually held accountable for his actions.”
Now, that both Hill and Davis were arrested JD Dixon, Empire 13 director, said this makes him question what's happening within the Northwoods Police Department.
"Immediately, my first thought was, how deep does this go? If the second officer was arrested now after days and weeks of the first incident and the first officer being arrested was in North Carolina. How many other people know and how many other officers knew of this incident? Not only that, but how deep does this type of culture and action go? How many times has this happened before? How many times has it been swept under the rug?" he said.
Smith and several other activists met with the Northwoods Police Chief on Wednesday to discuss the facts of the case and share their concerns about police accountability.
"We really just want to talk to our elected officials concerning how these things happen in our community and what we need to do to rectify them," she said.
Smith said she has her own hesitations about Hill's charges in the incident, but she's looking forward to hearing the full story in court and wants transparency at the center of it all.
"We really just want to make sure that everything is on the up and up, that this process goes the way that it is actually supposed to go, and the community will be watching," she said.
Northwoods is a town of about 3,600 people. With Davis’s suspension, the department now has 13 officers, according to the chief.
Davis was being held in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Once he is extradited to St. Louis County, prosecutors have asked that he be held on a $750,000 cash-only bond.
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