CLAYTON, Mo. – A St. Louis County judge canceled the warrant issued for a Hillsdale employee who did not show up to court on a charge connected to running over a FOX 2 News photographer.
Earl Longmeyer, 57, hired St. Louis-based attorney Donnell Smith to represent him after accidentally running over a FOX 2 photojournalist, according to court records. He has been charged with operating a motor vehicle in a careless manner involving an accident.
Smith filed a motion requesting St. Louis County Associate Circuit Judge Natalie Warner recall the warrant after Longmeyer did not appear at a scheduled hearing on Tuesday. Smith told the judge his client did not appear because of an ‘error due to Counsel.’
“Counsel was recently retained by the Defendant and mistakenly entered the court date on the calendar for next week, November 27, 2023. Counsel is presently out of town and unavailable to appear,” Smith told the court.
Warner recalled the warrant, or canceled it, Wednesday morning, according to the court’s docket.
The FOX Files went to Hillsdale in August to investigate why the village threatened to tow multiple cars for not having the proper village sticker.
Longmeyer was caught on camera getting into the driver’s seat of a Village of Hillsdale Public Works truck and driving away. A trailer that the truck was towing accidentally ran over FOX 2 photojournalist Wade Smith. He suffered serious leg injuries and is on his way to recovery.
The judge has rescheduled Longmeyer’s court hearing for January 9.
We reached out to Longmeyer’s attorney for comment, but we have not heard back, as of the publication of this article. It’s worth noting that in the court filings, the attorney said he was out of town.
