ST. LOUIS – Several weeks after an officer crashed a police car into Bar:PM, a situation that later led to the bar owner’s arrest, St. Louis Police Chief Robert Tracy has spoken on the crash and the investigation.
Tracy spoke publicly about the crash during a public safety news conference Tuesday after other officers had handled questions in recent weeks.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department claims that two St. Louis police probation officers, each with less than a year of experience, were heading northbound on Broadway. The driver lost control of the police vehicle, overcorrected, and crashed into the bar.
“Are they going to be held accountable? Yes,” Tracy said on Tuesday.
Tracy says the crash remains under review. He adds that there are meetings with the department action review boards every two months, a time during which the crash could be further investigated.
Tracy noted that he was limited in what information and evidence he could release around the crash and arrest because he does not want to compromise the investigation. That includes officer bodycam footage of an encounter after the crash that led to the bar owner’s arrest.
“When it comes to body-worn cameras, I’m limited by the sunshine law, and I’m limited by the state laws here,” said Tracy. “What I can release, I will release. And when I do release it, it’s after the investigation. I have three investigations going. I have a criminal investigation, a civilian complaint investigation, and a department accident investigation.”
Tracy says, based on an initial review of the footage, an officer expressed remorse and apologized after the crash. He adds that an officer told his supervisor, “I messed up” in regards to the crash nearly 15 minutes after it happened.
After offering information on the officers’ involvement in the crash, Tracy offered these comments:
“I feel bad, and I’m sorry that their establishment [Bar:PM] got hit and they got the damage that happened to that place,” said Tracy. “Nobody wants to see that. There is remorse about that because our actions affect people, and look at the way it’s affected people. Then afterwards, there’s high tension and then there’s an assault for the arrest that was being made.”
Chad Morris, the co-owner of Bar:PM, was arrested after an encounter with police. A SLMPD crime summary report from December alleges that Morris made profane remarks and shoved that officer in the chest after the crash, before his arrest. Morris faces two misdemeanor charges of fourth-degree assault and resisting arrest.
“The owners of the bar have counsel,” said Tracy. “He has said that he wants to make a civilian complaint. We’ve been on the phone with him, we’ve asked him to come in, we’ve asked him to give any evidence, and we will continue to do the investigation on the part of the actions of the officers.”
While speaking on the crash and the investigation, Tracy reiterated that he does not want to compromise the investigation through any remarks or actions.
“There’s a lot of things the chief wants to say or wish he could say, but I also have to follow the letter of the law,” said Tracy. “I have to make sure I’m not going to taint the jury pull should this ever go to trial. I have to talk to the circuit attorney. I have to talk to our counselors. I have to speak to everyone to make sure, ‘Am I going to compromise this case?’
He continued, “I have to wait until the investigations are finished, then I can comment more on it. But I have comment a lot on this. Just when it comes to officer-involved shooting or something like that, I can’t say a lot because I’ll be compromising due process.”
As for pushback to release body-camera footage, Tracy says situations are considered on a case-by-case basis. “There are restrictions of what I can do, and I’m abiding by that.”
Tracy spoke on the crash and other public safety topics during the one-year anniversary of him officially becoming the police chief of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department.
