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Attorney: Videos Taken at Bar:PM Contradict St. Louis Police Story | St. Louis

Published

10 months ago

December 19, 2023

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click to enlarge SCREENSHOT This still from a video shot by bystander Matt Pfaff shows St. Louis Police at Bar:PM after crashing an SUV into the LGBTQ bar.

A Carondelet bar owner is currently locked up in the City Justice Center downtown, accused of felony assault, a charge that has outraged many due to the fact that he picked it up after a St. Louis Police SUV crashed into the front of his business.

“This is embarrassing for the police department,” says Javad Khazaeli, the attorney for Bar:PM co-owner Chad Morris. Khazaeli says there are multiple videos of the collision and its aftermath that tell a different story than the one police are alleging and show that Morris’ arrest was unwarranted.

“I’m hopeful that the prosecuting attorney’s office, when they see the evidence that we have, dismisses these charges and holds the police accountable,” Khazaeli says.

The collision happened around 12:30 a.m. Monday, when the police SUV traveling north on South Broadway crashed into the front of the LGTBQ bar owned by Morris and his husband James Pence, just as it was closing up.

Pence told the RFT yesterday that when the crash occurred he came downstairs to find an officer demanding to see his identification. Pence refused, and was spun around and placed in handcuffs. He wasn’t arrested, but Morris was, accused of felony assault on a police officer and misdemeanor resisting arrest.

click to enlarge COURTESY JAMES PENCE Bar:PM co-owner Chad Morris, who often goes by Chad Wick.

Police claimed in charging documents that after the crash Morris “scream[ed] obscenities.” One officer wrote that he “struck me hard in the chest with an open hand, causing me to temporarily lose my balance.” Morris then allegedly fled into a gangway between the bar and another building, closing a gate on an officer as he did, according to the police statement.

Khazaeli says that a 20-minute bystander video of the incident tells its own story.

“They unlawfully handcuffed Mr. Pence,” Khazaeli says. “They falsely claim that speaking loudly is against the law. And they use that as a predicate to arrest Mr. Morris.”

A portion of the bystander video was viewed by the RFT. That portion shows what took place between the crash and prior to Morris’ arrest. It shows Pence being put in handcuffs. At one point, the person filming the video asks what crime has been committed. An unidentified St. Louis Metropolitan Police officer responds, “a disturbance.”

The officer then walks toward the person taking the video and says, “He’s not going to yell at me, that’s causing a disturbance.”

At no time does the 20-minute bystander video show Morris striking an officer in the chest, Khazaeli says.[image-3]

The RFT has also viewed the video taken from a different vantage point on South Broadway that shows the collision itself. That video shows the police SUV traveling at what appears to be a high rate of speed northbound on South Broadway. The vehicle suddenly swerves to avoid a car parked against the curb, which the SUV didn’t look like it was going to hit anyway. The SUV careens across the turning lane, the lane going in the opposite direction and the sidewalk and then into BAR:PM.

The police vehicle was driven by a 32-year-old probationary officer who had been with the department for less than a year. The official police incident report said that the driver “believed he was traveling too close to a parked car and attempted to correct himself.”

Khazaeli says, “They lost control of the vehicle. And immediately the video shows the police officers being aggressive with everybody in the area to cover up what they did.”

Morris was ordered to be held without bond in the City Justice Center on Monday. It is unclear as of right now when Morris will have a bond hearing, though one is expected to occur either later today or tomorrow morning at the latest.

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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

Published

4 months 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

4 months 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

5 months 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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