No dashboard camera in police SUV that crashed into St. Louis bar, cops say

Dana Rieck

ST. LOUIS — The police SUV that crashed into a south St. Louis bar on Monday did not have a dashboard camera, police said Wednesday in their first public comments about the crash and the resulting interaction that ended with the arrest of the co-owner of the bar.

The officers said they were distracted by the police radio in the car before swerving and slamming into the building, said Lt. Col. Renee Kriesmann. The bar owners said police initially told them they had swerved to miss a dog before recanting and saying they'd swerved to miss a parked car instead.

"The great majority of the city’s budget goes to the police department," said Javad Khazaeli, the attorney for the bar owners. "I can see no valid reason for police cars that are in service to not have a dash cam."

And despite Khazaeli's claims that the SUV was "flying" before the crash, Kriesmann said the SUV was traveling 40 mph before the crash and 20 mph when it hit the building, according to the car's black box that records key data points related to crashes.

"That’s not what it looks like to me in the (surveillance) video," Khazaeli said. "I would let the video that was publicly released speak for itself."

No toxicology tests were administered to the officers, Kriesmann said, because officers investigating the crash did not have reasonable suspicion of impairment, which department policy requires for toxicology tests.

The officers were wearing body cameras, Kriesmann said, but police will not release that footage because of the bar owner's pending criminal case.

“We would like to ensure to the owners of the bar and the community that every aspect of this incident is being thoroughly investigated,” Kriesmann said in a weekly media briefing on Wednesday afternoon.

Chad Morris, the 37-year-old co-owner of Bar:PM, a popular gay bar in the city's Carondelet neighborhood, was arrested and charged with assault and resisting arrest after a confrontation that followed the crash.

Police said Morris pushed one of the officers investigating the crash and ran from police; his attorney, Khazaeli, has disputed several parts of the officers' account, including that Morris was the aggressor.

Two officers, both with less than a year of experience, were working an overtime shift in the SUV. Kriesmann said the officers were cleared to ride without a more experienced officer.

The bar's other co-owner and Morris' husband, James Pence, confronted police after hearing the crash. He was eventually placed in handcuffs, and the conflict escalated when Morris arrived and demanded to know why.

Though the crash and much of its aftermath were captured by surveillance footage and bystander video, several key moments, including what led to the crash and whether Morris indeed assaulted an officer, are not shown.

One of the videos, 15 seconds of security footage that Khazaeli shared on social media, shows the police SUV driving down South Broadway before swerving unexpectedly and slamming into the building.

Khazaeli showed the other video — nearly 30 minutes of bystander footage captured after the crash — to reporters but did not publish it.

In that video, which includes sound, Pence is seen confronting officers about crashing into his bar in an interaction that Pence described Tuesday as “loud and vocal.” Pence and Morris live in an apartment above the bar.

Pence demands to know how they crashed into the building, and officers who arrive to investigate the crash eventually handcuff him when he questions why they need his identification.

After Morris shows up and the interaction escalates again, Morris tries to leave down an alley, but several officers follow him. Morris then asks if the officers have a warrant.

The video doesn’t show what happens in the alley, but Morris is eventually taken back out of the alley, handcuffed and visibly injured. Officers can be heard calling the bystander recording video and others "clowns" on several occasions.

Morris resists the officers’ efforts to subdue him and get him into the back of a police van. Pence was released, and Morris was held in jail for more than a day.

Morris had several visible bruises, including on his eyelid, when he briefly addressed reporters after his release from jail.

Crowds packed the couple's bar Tuesday night to show support. Regulars said the turnout was exceptional so early in the week — no surprise for a bar treasured as a safe space by many gay men.