A St. Louis community is seeking answers after a police car crashed into a local gay bar, resulting in the arrest of one of the business’s co-owners and raising concerns about the officers’ conduct.
Bar:PM, an LGBTQIA+ safe space owned by Chad Morris and James Pence, experienced a shocking incident around 12:30 a.m. Monday night. The married couple, who reside above the bar, recounted being startled by a loud crash. Upon investigating, they discovered a St. Louis police patrol car had collided with the front of their establishment. The vehicle reportedly carried two St. Louis police probation officers, both new to the force.
According to the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s report, the driver claimed to have overcorrected, fearing proximity to a parked car, leading to a loss of control and the collision with the bar. However, Pence contradicted this account, stating that the officer initially claimed to have swerved to avoid hitting a dog.
Pence shared his experience with Fox 2, recounting, “I was in bed. I heard a loud bang. I felt the building shake. I ran down from upstairs. He actually apologized to me. He said ‘I literally swerved to miss a dog.’ He was very–he was actually extremely nice. He was the nicest officer out there.”
Upon arriving at the scene, Pence, the first responder, reportedly declined to provide his ID when requested by the officers, resulting in his handcuffing. Morris, shaken by the incident, confronted the officers, alleging that one of them used a homophobic slur during the encounter. Pence’s attorney, Javad Khazaeli, later clarified that Pence couldn’t be certain whether the offensive remark came from an officer or another bystander.
As per the police account, the situation escalated when an “offender began shouting obscenities,” and officers tried to calm the situation, resulting in one of the officers being pushed. Pence claimed that his husband, Morris, engaged in a physical altercation with the police.
“I came out, and my husband came out as well, and there was a cop that made a very homophobic remark,” Pence told KSDK-TV. “My husband did put his hand on a cop out of defense because they had already put me in handcuffs because I wanted to know what was going on. I was told I had to (show) ID or shut up.”
Morris faced initial charges of third-degree assault on a special victim, a felony, and was detained until Tuesday morning. The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office later reduced the charges to fourth-degree assault and resisting arrest, both misdemeanors.
Khazaeli took to social media to express dissatisfaction with the reduced charges, asserting, “We have video that shows that the police were the aggressors. And Chad did nothing wrong.”
The incident has sparked community outrage, with demands for transparency and accountability regarding the police car crash and the subsequent arrest. Concerns about potential misconduct and the use of homophobic slurs have heightened tensions, leading to calls for a thorough investigation into the officers’ actions during the encounter. The community awaits further developments as the legal proceedings unfold.