New Video Shows How St. Louis Police Arrested Owner After Crashing Into His Bar

Source: Them

New Video Shows How St. Louis Police Arrested Owner After Crashing Into His Bar

A St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officer can be seen in the video ignoring a request for their badge number and threatening to arrest the bystander taking video.

BY SAMANTHA RIEDEL
January 19, 2024

After crashing a police SUV headlong into St. Louis’ Bar:PM last month, officers immediately handcuffed one of the bar’s owners for “causing a disturbance” and threatened to arrest a bystander for yelling at them, according to a video released this week by the bar owners’ lawyer.

Civil rights attorney Javad Khazaeli, who represents Bar:PM owners Chad Morris and James Pence, released the two-minute video in a thread on X on Thursday. Khazaeli says it is the beginning of a 22-minute recording captured by a bystander on December 18, shortly after police crashed their vehicle into the riverside gay bar. Officers at first blamed the crash on a dog in the road, then said they swerved to avoid a parked car.

In the video, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD) officer Ramelle Wallace can first be seen smoking a cigarette next to Zachary Thompson and Joel Carvajal, the two officers reportedly involved in the crash. Wallace then asks Pence for identification. “You’re not IDing me, I didn’t do anything wrong,” Pence protests.

“Everybody has the right to ask an officer what they’re doing,” Khazaeli told local NBC affiliate KDSK. “An officer only has the right to demand an ID if a person is driving a car or if the person has probable cause to think that the person committed a crime.”

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Read more: https://www.them.us/story/st-louis-police-bar-pm-car-crash-arrest-video