ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – St. Louis County police say they’ve solved the mystery of the beaten and bloody man found in a Kinloch field on the Fourth of July.
A witness reported seeing a police car near the injured man—a car from a different jurisdiction. That witness tip turned out to be the key to solving the case.
Without that witness, who happened to be driving by a mostly abandoned part of Kinloch that evening, it’s impossible to know whether we’d ever know about this case of a cop who allegedly went rogue.
It’s a case FOX 2 featured earlier this month. The witness posted her shocking discovery on Facebook and said she noticed the police car in question was from Northwoods. She thought it was strange because Northwoods is about five miles and several police jurisdictions away.
Northwoods police confirmed an outside investigation into the case when FOX 2 spoke to police Chief Dennis Shireff on July 7. He said the St. Louis County police had been in touch with his department.
“Crimes Against Persons have reached out to us and asked for our assistance, and whatever they need, we’re going to make sure that we do that,” Shireff said.
County P.D. announced a break in the case Monday with the arrest of 26-year-old Northwoods police officer Samuel Davis, who’s listed as living on Tipton Drive in north St. Louis County.
Davis is now charged with first-degree assault, armed criminal action, and second-degree kidnapping for the incident that reportedly began at a Northwoods Walgreens.
It’s unknown what brought the officer there, but a probable cause statement said Davis “…deactivated his body-worn camera, did not inform the dispatcher he had a suspect in custody, and instead drove the victim to a remote location… There, the officer pepper sprayed the victim, struck him repeatedly with a baton, and ordered him not to return to the City of Northwoods.” The police said the victim suffered a broken jaw.
Reverend Darryl Gray has been closely watching the case and is pleased so far with the internal police investigation.
“I am particularly surprised the county moved so quickly on this, but pleasantly surprised.” He said. “We still want the FBI to take a look at this to see if this raises to the level of a hate crime.”
“What is alleged in this incident will not be tolerated under my watch,” said St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell. “These actions put a black eye on all law enforcement officers who are doing their jobs the right way and who are tired of their profession being dragged through the mud because of the bad actions of a few.”
Davis, who Northwoods said is no longer employed as a police officer, was charged under seal while investigators tried locating him. Investigators eventually caught up with him, and he was arrested in Fayetteville, NC. He’ll be extradited to St. Louis County and held on a $750,000 cash-only bond.