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St. Louis Church Accused of Kidnapping Can Reopen, City Says

Published

2 years ago

March 6, 2024

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click to enlarge ZACHARY LINHARES Church secretary Nkulu Mamba, left, St. Louis Fire Safety Inspector Wayne Brooks, and the building’s former owner Arlie Singleton talk after code enforcers toured Mount Of Olives Ministry.

The south St. Louis church that for the past two weeks has been at the center of kidnapping allegations is again open business after the city reversed its condemnation orders.

An email from Deputy Building Commissioner Dylan Mosier dated today says that the condemnation of Mount of Olives Ministry, implemented February 26, is now lifted.

That original condemnation of the church in the city’s Patch neighborhood was issued after inspectors determined the building was being “used or intended to be used for purposes which are illegal and may endanger the health or safety of persons.”

The church building had seen significant police activity the weekend prior. In the early hours of the morning of Saturday, February 24, a woman ran to a nearby residential street, crying out to passersby for help. When police arrived, the woman said she’d been confined in a room at the church against her will, tied up and beaten.

In court, prosecutors have said that evidence includes marks on the woman’s wrists and ankles as well as injuries to her head, which are all consistent with her version of events. Prosecutors have alleged in court that other church members attempted to intimidate the victim after the police became involved and to contact her even as she was in protective custody. At a bond hearing for one of the alleged kidnappers, a prosecutor said that police body cam footage taken at the scene showed cult-like conditions at the church.
click to enlarge ZACHARY LINHARES A white sheet sections off the room where a woman was allegedly held captive in the basement of the Mount Of Olives Ministry.

Grace Kipendo, Pasi Heri and Mmunga Fungamali were arrested on the night of the incident and all three remain in the St. Louis City Justice Center, having been denied bond. Their attorneys don’t dispute that there was an injured woman at the church, but they say she had suffered a mental breakdown on the night in question. She had been living at the church along with others, they say, and other people at the church assaulted her. The arrest of the three men, the defense attorneys say, was due to mistaken identity stemming from a language barrier between police and the primarily Swahili-speaking congregation.

Employees with the Building Division visited the church again yesterday, and RFT photographer Zachary Linhares was able to tag along.

In addition to seeing what one would expect in any church, Linhares also photographed a long back hallway with approximately 10 small rooms branching off from it. Each of the rooms contained multiple beds. Defense attorneys for the arrested men previously said in court that roughly three to five people lived at the church at any given time. However, the facility appears to regularly house many more than that.

The three men taken into custody all have preliminary hearings set in their cases for either the end of March or beginning of April.Monte Chambers, a spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety, issued this statement: “Following an inspection of the facility by the City of St. Louis Building Division, the condemnation of the Mount of Olives Ministries has been abated. The Building Division will continue to work with the property owner to maintain a safe facility. The occupancy permit for Mount of Olives Ministries does not permit residential use of the premises. “The safety of St. Louis residents and visitors remains a top priority for the Department of Public Safety.”

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.

Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.

The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.

The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.

This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.

As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.

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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

Published

1 year ago

May 22, 2024

Natural Bridge

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.

“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”

He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”

The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”

Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”

The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.

Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”

In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.

“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”

Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”

Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.

“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.

Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)

One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.

Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.

“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”

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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

Published

1 year ago

May 21, 2024

Natural Bridge

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.

The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.

The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.

The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.

To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/

“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”

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