ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — For seven seconds and 300 feet, a St. John police officer clung to a car window as the driver sped off during a typical traffic stop. And the whole incident was apparently caught on the officer’s dash camera, according to court documents released Tuesday in St. Louis County.
Wendell Mosley, 30, was charged with first-degree assault and resisting arrest for the incident that investigators said happened last Thursday.
According to the probable cause statement, a police sergeant with the St. John Police Department pulled Mosley over for running a stop sign and having expired temporary tags. The officer said he was standing at the driver’s side window checking Mosley’s license when the suspect started to drive away. The officer reached into the car to try to stop Mosley. The suspect accelerated instead.
“The defendant continued to accelerate at a high rate of speed while Sgt. Tobias was hanging onto the driver's side window,” the probable cause statement reads.
Court records indicate the officer’s dash camera video showed him hanging on to the side of the car for about seven seconds while Mosley drove a distance of about 300 feet.
“As the defendant steered towards a parked vehicle Sgt. Tobias let go from the defendant's vehicle in order to avoid hitting the parked vehicle. Sgt. Tobias hit the pavement causing serious physical injury,” the statement continues.
The officer was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.
Two other officers were injured in a series of events that followed the initial traffic stop.
St. Louis County police officers in at least two separate cars pursued Mosley as he sped away from the scene. The chase crossed into the city limits where he stopped and ran away, police said. When the first officer stopped to chase Mosley, the second squad car rear-ended the first. Home surveillance video shared with 5 On Your Side showed the moment of the crash.
Two officers suffered minor injuries and were treated and released.
Mosley got away from officers and is still at large.
A judge already has denied bond, citing Mosley’s extensive history of crimes and that he was on probation at the time of last week’s incidents.