ST. LOUIS — The St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office has dropped charges and closed a controversial case: an alleged carjacking attempt of two St. Louis police officers in a marked department vehicle.
"This case has been dismissed for good reason. I hope to never see something like this enter the circuit attorney's warrant office again," Chief Warrant Officer Chis Hinckley said.
In a rare move Tuesday, Hinkley — on behalf of the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office — released surveillance video of the highly publicized incident, saying the video disproves officers' claims.
This case marks the latest disagreement in a long-running battle between the two public safety groups.
One of the officers involved can be heard on his body-worn camera saying the suspect ran out from a bus stop, gun drawn and held in two outstretched arms. The officer said the suspect first ran directly in front of their car, causing the driver to swerve, before bringing the gun to the passenger side and pointing it inside.
Hinkley said they repeatedly asked investigators to turn in video from their own recording devices and private businesses. When the officers did not turn in the third-party security video, the prosecutor's office went looking for it themselves and found it at a business across the street.
"This is nowhere near what he represented," Hinckley said of the two accounts, "you wonder why nobody got this footage."
Moving through the video Tuesday, Hinckley said it instead shows the suspect already a few yards past the bus stop when he starts to cross the street outside of a designated crosswalk. The police vehicle stops short of where the man is standing, he turns back towards the street and walks on with his hands by his side.
Police left the scene three seconds after stopping short in front of the man.
"If not for police body-worn cameras and business security camera footage, the truth of this matter never would have seen the light of day," Redditt Hudson of the Circuit Attorney's Office said. "What our investigation reveals is a serious breach of trust in our city's criminal justice system."
The St. Louis Police Officers Association said Tuesday they are standing behind the two officers involved in the incident, adding they are "victims of a crime perpetrated on March 19, 2022."
The statement continues by saying "the SLPOA wants to know why employees of the Circuit Attorney failed to present the perpetrator’s videotaped confession and the remainder of the body camera footage relating to the incident both of which fully and completely decimate the fairy tale spun in today's press conference. The truth will prevail."
A spokesperson for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department says they're aware of the accusation, adding "No material has been shared with the Department from the Circuit Attorney's Office about these allegations. We have requested their supported material and will conduct a review."