St. Louis, Missouri police crashed into a gay bar and then beat and arrested its owner early on Monday morning and charged him with felony assault, according to a lawyer representing the owner. Video released by attorney Javad Khazaeli shows a police SUV driving down a street at high speeds and then swerving into Bar:PM at around 12:30 a.m. Police initially said they swerved to miss a parked car. The video shows a parked car on the side of the road that is not the SUV’s path. After the crash, police handcuffed one of the bar’s owners James Pence and then arrested his husband and co-owner Chad Morris, charging him with felony assault and resisting arrest. One of the cops on scene, John Pierce, said in a probable cause statement that he was investigating the car accident when Morris refused to comply with his requests to back up, screamed obscenities, and hit him. “The defendant struck me hard in the chest with an open hand, causing me to temporarily lose my balance,” Pierce alleged. He said Morris then tried to flee into a gangway when he told him he was under arrest and “attempted to strike me with the gate.” Morris was detained for 36 hours, but prosecutors have since downgraded his assault charge to a misdemenour assault and he was released Tuesday morning on his own recognizance. Morris had scratches on his face and a black eye when he was released .
siehe auch: Police Didn’t Breathalyze or Drug Test Cop Who Drove Into Gay Bar St. Louis police didn’t feel there was “reasonable suspicion” that their officer was intoxicated when he rammed his car into a gay bar. St. Louis, Missouri police did not drug test or breathalyze the officer who crashed his car into a gay bar, eventually leading to the bar’s owner being arrested, the department told reporters. A police SUV drove into Bar:PM shortly after midnight on Monday morning; afterwards, police handcuffed one of the owners and arrested a second one, charging him with felony assault. The co-owner who was arrested, Chad Morris, said police beat him, and had a black eye and scratches on his face when he was released from the St. Louis City Justice Center Tuesday. Prosecutors have downgraded his assault charge to a misdemeanor, but his lawyer said they must drop charges altogether. St. Louis, Missouri police did not drug test or breathalyze the officer who crashed his car into a gay bar, eventually leading to the bar’s owner being arrested, the department told reporters. A police SUV drove into Bar:PM shortly after midnight on Monday morning; afterwards, police handcuffed one of the owners and arrested a second one, charging him with felony assault. The co-owner who was arrested, Chad Morris, said police beat him, and had a black eye and scratches on his face when he was released from the St. Louis City Justice Center Tuesday. Prosecutors have downgraded his assault charge to a misdemeanor, but his lawyer said they must drop charges altogether.