ST. LOUIS, Missouri — St. Louis police leadership held a private meeting Thursday morning at station headquarters with several city officials and showed them select portions of body camera video of the aftermath of a police SUV crashing into a South City bar, according to several sources who were in the room.
Just after midnight Monday, a police SUV driving in the 6700 block of South Broadway swerved off the road and crashed into Bar:PM, a gay bar owned by Chad Morris and James Spence. Police initially charged Morris with felony assault before prosecutors amended the charges to a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest.
Police officials have not yet responded to requests for comment on the purpose of their meeting with city officials and LGBTQIA+ advocates, though it appears to be an initial half-step toward transparency. The video officials viewed, in large part, appears to corroborate the police version of the story, though it leaves several pressing questions unanswered.
Sources told 5 On Your Side that police brass shared select portions of body cam video with Alderwoman Anne Schweitzer who represents the ward where the tense altercation occurred, Alderman Bret Narayan who chairs the Public Safety Committee, Aldermen Shane Cohn and Rasheen Aldridge, both of whom are members of the LGBTQ community, and Mayor Tishaura Jones' Chief of Staff Jared Boyd, along with some other members of the mayor’s LGBTQIA+ Advisory Committee.
Sources said the video they viewed begins after the crash and after Spence, one of the bar owners, was already in handcuffs. People who reviewed the video were not sure why the body camera video didn't start sooner than that.
Morris, James' partner, appears at some point very soon after that in the police body camera video and appears very upset. Officials who viewed the video felt police could’ve done a better job verbally de-escalating the situation.
After a disagreement near the back gate by the gangway, sources said body cam video shows Morris shove an officer who had subsequently arrived on scene after the crash. The officer involved in the initial physical confrontation was not one of the officers who crashed into the building.
At that point, police follow Morris into an alleyway and apprehend him, though poor lighting apparently obscured the view of the cameras.
A third body cam video taken in the alley was apparently too dark to show any physical blows taking place, according to sources; but in audio recordings, sources said they could hear Morris asking an officer why he hit him. He comes out with a black eye. His attorney later told reporters that Morris sustained several body bruises.
Sources who viewed the select portions of video said they did not hear any homophobic slurs coming from officers on scene.
St. Louis Police Lt. Col. Renee Kriesmann said on Wednesday during a weekly meeting with reporters that body camera footage revealed someone other than a police officer had shouted a homophobic slur toward one of the bar owners.
The department has also faced criticism over the fact that the officers who slammed into the bar were not given toxicology tests.
The officer who was driving said he was distracted by his police radio and overcorrected, causing him to lose control of the vehicle, Kriesmann said.
Internal investigations into the crash and the officers' use of force during the arrest of one of the bar owners are underway.
On Wednesday evening, Morris’ attorney, Javad Khazaeli, released new security camera footage. The footage, timestamped just before 12:30 a.m. Monday, appeared to show a St. Louis police SUV running a red light at an intersection less than 250 feet away from Bar:PM.
Khazaeli claimed the SUV seen in the video is the same SUV that crashed into his client’s bar seconds later.
City officials familiar with the ongoing criminal investigation and pending lawsuit have suggested the city must proceed with caution as it determines which portions of video it can release for public consumption.
5 On Your Side asked Jones' office if she would call on police Chief Robert Tracy to release all the body camera video.
"We support transparency around incidents like this, but we have to consider proper procedures too," her spokesman Nick Dunne said. "The bar owners haven't even seen the video yet, and they deserve a chance to see it first."
Dunne said the mayor is "reviewing policies" around the video and toxicology testing requirements.
A public information officer with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department provided the following statement regarding the incident, which reads:
Transparency and accountability are key to rebuilding community trust after incidents like the one at Bar:PM this week. RSMo. 610.100.2(2), passed in 2016, does not permit the public release of body camera footage until the investigation is complete or by court order, however at the request of Mayor Jones, on Thursday some members of the St. Louis Board of Aldermen and the Mayor’s LGBTQIA+ Advisory board reviewed the arrest footage pertaining to Chad Morris. This step was taken in recognition of the unique circumstances of this incident and to provide transparency and clarity in the face of speculation. This is similar to past instances of officer-involved shootings or deaths, in which the City has shown body camera footage to family members.
Jordan Braxton (she/her), Chair of the City's LGBTQIA+ Advisory Board provided the following statement as well:
As an advisory board, we are tasked with making recommendations to city leaders on how to improve efforts to be more inclusive for LGBTQIA+ people. On Thursday, some members of the LGBTQIA+ Advisory board, alongside members of the Board of Aldermen, reviewed the body camera footage from Monday’s incident at Bar:PM. It would be premature and unfair to publicly make a statement on the content of the body camera footage before the owners of Bar:PM have reviewed it themselves. However, in line with our mission we are using this moment of transparency, as well as the expertise and personal experience of our board members, to identify improvements in law enforcement policies and practices especially during interactions with marginalized community members. We look forward to conversations after the new year.
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