Local News
Sheriff Bans Phones at St. Louis Jail Over Photo of Detainee in Feces

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St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts is reportedly no fan of Corrections Commissioner Jenifer Clemons-Abdullah, yet he’s following her playbook this week after taking flak for a photo of a detainee left in horrendous conditions.
On Monday, the RFT reported on the photo that attorney Susan McGraugh snapped of her client, Lamarr Pearson, who was lying on the floor of a jail cell in his own excrement. Pearson is paralyzed, with no control of his bowels. He told McGraugh he’d been lying there in that state for two or three days.
At the time of the photo, Pearson was in a holding area of the jail for people who have been arrested but not yet formally booked into the City Justice Center.
As other outlets covered the photo, the city’s Department of Public Safety told KMOV’s Justin Andrews that Pearson had not been officially booked into the City Justice Center at the time the photo was taken, implying he was in that holding area controlled by Sheriff Betts.
That was a slightly more detailed statement than the one previously given to the RFT, and Betts insisted to the TV station that Pearson was not in an area controlled by his department when the photo was taken.
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But nevertheless, Betts has now taken steps to ban phones in the part of the jail that he controls.
A letter signed by Betts and posted at the courthouse downtown and addressed to attorneys and other court personnel, reads in full: “Prior to entering the Justice Center, all attorneys and court personnel must securely store their cell phones, electronic devices, and any other contraband items. Please note that attorneys and court personnel may be subject to searches upon entry to the Justice Center. Please remember that this facility prioritizes security, and it is essential to comply with directives issued by the deputies.”
The letter echoes a similar directive issued by Clemons-Abdullah in January soon after a different attorney photographed a detainee with an untreated, cantaloupe-sized hernia protruding from his stomach.
Not long after the RFT published that photo, a sign went up in the Justice Center, saying, “Beginning January 15, 2024, no cellular devices or any type of recording/photography devices will be allowed inside the facility. All previous authorizations for cellular devices are no longer authorized.” It was signed by Clemons-Abdullah.
The RFT has previously described the relationship between the corrections commissioner and the sheriff as frosty. Betts previously said of her: “Somebody has told that lady that Vernon Betts wants to take over the jail…She’s got this wild hair up her butt that I want to run the jail.”
According to one attorney, jail staff continued to allow attorneys to bring phones into the jail after Clemons-Abdullah’s directive, though they have to fill out a form first.
To McGraugh’s mind, the bans on attorneys’ phones miss what should be the point of photos that show maltreatment of jail detainees.
“I don’t know why everyone is acting like the problem is the camera,” she said.
McGraugh isn’t the only defense attorney taken aback by Betts’ order.
“Sheriff Betts is the best evidence for why the judges should take control of the sheriff’s department,” said attorney Terry Niehoff. “When he is not forcing his deputies to campaign for him he is coming up with these idiotic ideas.”
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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

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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

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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

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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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