The Tea: The attorney representing Bar:PM owners Chad Morris and James Pence released a bystander video documenting the aftermath of the now infamous St. Louis cop car crash that resulted in co-owner James Pence being handcuffed and co-owner James Pence being arrested.

• The video shows the moments leading up to Pence being detained in handcuffs
• It also reportedly shows the St. Louis police officer Ramelle Wallace, who Morris alleges beat him while in police custody.

The background: Shortly after midnight on Monday, December 18, a St. Louis police vehicle crashed into the front window of Bar:PM, a gay bar in the Carondelet neighborhood. But it was bar co-owner Chad Morris who was arrested.

• According to co-owner James Pence, police told him that the crash was caused after an officer swerved to avoid hitting a dog in the street. But when Pence arrived on the scene, things took a turn for the worse.
• Pence, who lives above the bar, told the Riverfront Times that when he went down to investigate the crash, cops put him in handcuffs and then “jumped” his co-owner, Chad Morris.
• Police arrested Morris and charged him with felony assault on an officer and misdemeanor resisting arrest. The felony charge was later reduced to a misdemeanor.
• The video below was posted in December by attorney Javad Khazaeli on X/Twitter and shows the police cruiser traveling at a fast speed on South Broadway and appearing to swerve to miss a parked car, not a dog, before crashing into the Bar:PM front window.

Further reading:

• After Crashing Into Gay Bar, St. Louis Police Arrest Bar Owner
• New Bar:PM Footage Shows St. Louis Cop Cuffing Bar’s Co-Owner