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‘Soldier for the Church’ in St. Louis Kidnapping Cleared for Release

Published

1 year ago

April 5, 2024

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A second African immigrant accused of holding a woman against her will at a St. Louis church was granted bond today, over the objections of city prosecutors. If Grace Kipendo posts $3,000 and complies with other conditions, he will be free until his felony kidnapping case goes to trial.

Kipendo was taken into custody in February after a woman fled the Mount of Olives Ministry in south city, saying she had been held captive in a room there and showing rope marks around her arms and ankles. After police arrived, the victim took officers back into the church and showed them where she said she’d been held.

The weeks since have seen considerable debate about whether or not the predominantly Swahili-speaking congregation at Mount of Olives is tantamount to a cult. The city condemned the church for occupancy but reversed that decision a week later.

At Kipendo’s hearing today, prosecutor Chris Faerber argued in front of Judge Annette Llewellyn that the 28-year-old Kipendo ought to be kept in jail for the safety of the victim.

Faerber said that a church member can be heard on police body cam footage saying of the victim, “She ran away.”

That same footage shows Kipendo hovering nearby the victim and staring directly at her as she showed police where she’d been held, Faerber said. He added that this is classic abuser behavior and that Kipendo wasn’t, as his defense attorney has previously argued, acting as an interpreter between the victim and police.

“Kipendo is following her not for translation purposes,” Faerber said. “She is speaking accented but almost perfect English.”

“He tried to control her,” Faerber added. Officers eventually asked Kipendo to distance himself from the victim.

Faerber said that the victim can be heard on the body cam referring to Kipendo, an army reservist, as a “soldier for the church.”

Faerber also referenced another aspect of the body cam footage in the hearing, this from when police searched the room where the alleged victim was allegedly held. The probable cause statement filed along with the original charges said that the room contained a bucket being used as a makeshift toilet. Days later, when the media were allowed to view the room, it looked relatively tidy, if a bit unusual. But according to Faerber, the body cam footage showed trash piled high in the room as well as the makeshift toilet. The church had cleaned it up for the visit by city inspectors and the media.

“I don’t know if they realized how body-worn camera footage works,” Faerber said.

However, Kipendo’s attorney Chris Combs tells the RFT that there is ample evidence on that same body cam footage showing that his client was wrongfully arrested.

“The whole case is her identification,” Combs says, meaning that the only reason Kipendo was among the three police arrested was because the victim identified a man in a “gray jacket,” a vague description given that dozens of people were in and out of the church in the days the woman says she was held there. On the body cam the victim can also be heard saying that the man in the gray jacket didn’t tie her up.

“I don’t think the victim even knows my guy’s name,” Combs says.

Combs also says that several times on the body cam, police can be heard expressing concerns that they entered the church without a search warrant.

About Kipendo’s inserting himself into the conversation between the victim and police, Combs says Kipendo was one of the few people on the scene fluent in both English and Swahili and he felt a duty to act as interpreter.

Faerber argued that because Kipendo is a leader within the church community, there was no way to prevent him from contacting the victim via third parties.

Both sides seem to agree the victim in the case was having some sort of mental health crisis. Today in court, Faerber said that the church withheld her medication, instead giving her an “orange herbal supplement.”

“I would charge the whole church if I could,” Faerber said.

After a lengthy back-and-forth between Faerber and Combs, Llewellyn ultimately allowed Kipendo to be released from the City Justice Center under significant conditions. Kipendo must post $3,000, and he will be on house arrest and GPS monitoring. He is also forbidden from speaking with any other church members.

Kipendo’s co-defendant, Pasi Heri, was allowed out of jail on bond in March. The third man arrested, Mmunga Fungamali, is still in the City Justice Center.

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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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