ST. LOUIS — Police say a St. Louis alderman struck a woman with his car moments before he went on social media accusing her of trying to carjack him, according to a report obtained by 5 On Your Side.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s Office has declined to file charges against St. Louis Alderman Brandon Bosley, citing a lack of evidence. Bosley represents Ward 3.
Prosecutors initially charged the woman with two felonies following Alderman Brandon Bosley’s account of what happened Dec. 22.
Prosecutors dropped those charges one week later without explanation.
Police have since requested that charges be filed against Bosley for filing a false police report, assault and unlawful use of a weapon, but Gardner’s office has not issued them.
In a statement, spokeswoman Allison Hawk wrote: "We file charges according to the quality of the evidence presented, and we didn't find evidence to support the charges at this time."
Bosley also told the I-Team any claims that he struck the woman with his car are “100% false,” and “he’s prepared to sue,” anyone who claims otherwise.
Bosley told the I-Team that Gardner’s office told him the woman who he said tried to carjack him has been referred to a diversion program.
The program gives nonviolent felony offenders a chance to avoid jail time by completing programs centered on topics such as job training, education and community service, according to Gardner’s website.
Gardner’s spokeswoman would not say whether the woman in this case has been referred to the program.
The night in question
On Dec. 22, Bosley went on Facebook Live moments after he said a woman tried to carjack him.
In the video, the woman can be seen laying in the snow along Madison Street near North 18th Street.
As soon as Bosley pulls up next to the woman in his Facebook Live video, he shouts: "Oh he done hit you, he done hit your old dumb (expletive). What's up? See what I'm saying? You out here trying to rob (expletive) and somebody done hit your old dumb (expletive). Where that pistol that you had?"
At one point, Bosley gets out his gun and asks her whether she’s armed.
Gardner’s office issued robbery and armed criminal action charges against her.
During the week she spent in jail, she missed out on Christmas with her children, according to her family.
On Jan. 3, prosecutors dropped the charges against her, and the woman walked out of jail.
But the police investigation continued.
In a report obtained by the I-Team, police used license plate readers and pieced together surveillance video to track Bosley’s movements on the night in question.
Some of that surveillance video, taken from a gas station, shows, “Brandon B.’s passenger front strikes (the woman), knocking her towards the sidewalk.”
The I-Team has not seen the video, but two police sources who have seen it tell us a dark SUV can be seen in the upper right corner of its frame striking a woman.
Investigators tracked that SUV on to the lot of the gas station, and Bosley was its driver, according to the report and the sources.
Gardner’s office has had the video since Jan. 2, according to the report.
What the investigation shows
Bosley told police he was in the area on the night of the confrontation checking on citizen complaints about trash bins missing their lids, according to the report.
Surveillance footage shows him leaving a house where the woman he allegedly struck with his car sometimes lives, according to the report.
The woman told police she asked Bosley why he was “at her people’s house,” as he was leaving, according to the report.
He told her he was the mayor’s grandson and an alderman, according to the documents.
Bosley is former St. Louis Mayor Freeman Bosley Jr.'s brother, not his grandson. The alderman's father, Freeman Bosley Sr. is a former alderman.
Moments later, according to the police report, surveillance video shows the following:
“Bosley’s vehicle can be seen traveling eastbound along Madison Street behind a white SUV. As they approach the intersection of North 18th Street, the white SUV swerves to avoid striking the woman, who is standing in the street on Madison. Bosley continues straight, eastbound along Madison, at which time the woman tries to avoid his vehicle by moving in a southerly direction. Before getting to safety, the front passenger side of Bosley’s vehicle strikes the woman, knocking her towards the sidewalk or the south side of the street.”
On Jan. 5, officers went to the home they say Bosley was seen leaving that night and talked to a different woman who now lives there, according to the report.
She told police Bosley had been there for “quite some time” on the night in question and refused to let police in her home, according to the report.
That was the last time prosecutors asked police to gather more evidence, according to the report.
In her statement, Gardner’s spokeswoman encouraged anyone with information about the case to call police or prosecutors.