After Crashing Into Gay Bar, St. Louis Police Arrest Bar Owner

The Tea: In the wee hours of Monday morning, 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.

The Escalation: 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.

• "There were several police officers that jumped [Morris],” Pence told Riverfront Times. “Three of them (officers) went for him. He raised his arm and they said he hit them.”

Conflicting Stories: 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.

• In the charging documents, the police claim that Morris "scream[ed] obscenities” and "struck [an officer] hard in the chest with an open hand."
• But Morris’s attorney, Javad Khazaeli, says that bystander video tells a different story. According to Khazaeli, at no time in the 20-minute video is Morris shown striking an officer in the chest.
• The video below posted by Khazaeli on X/Twitter 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:

• St. Louis Police Crash Into LGBTQ Bar, Arrest Its Owner
• St. Louis Police File Felony Charge Against Bar:PM Owner After SUV Crash
• Attorney: Videos Taken at Bar:PM Contradict St. Louis Police Story