A St. Louis judge has thrown out the criminal case against a bar owner whose arrest garnered national attention because it happened after a police SUV crashed into his business.
Circuit Judge Rochelle Woodiest on Friday granted a motion to dismiss the case from Chad Morris’ attorneys. Morris was facing a misdemeanor assault charge for allegedly hitting a St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officer who had responded to the crash.
“This has been a very long two years and it should have ended a long time ago,” Morris said Thursday after a court hearing.
Morris and his husband James Pence own Bar:PM in the Carondelet neighborhood. Early in the morning of Dec. 18, 2023, a police SUV with two officers inside crashed into the building. The driver, a rookie officer, initially claimed he swerved to avoid a dog. The Riverfront Times later reported a department commander said the driver admitted to “getting distracted while attempting to change his in-car radio.”
Morris’ attorney, Javad Khazaeli, obtained video that showed the SUV running a red light just before the crash. The officers in the SUV were never given a toxicology test.
Prosecutors initially charged Morris with felony assault and resisting arrest. The assault charge was reduced to a misdemeanor and prosecutors later dropped the resisting charge.
Woodiest had telegraphed her willingness to throw out the charges at a hearing Thursday, where defense attorneys outlined numerous failures by the state to make records available. That included text messages from every officer who responded to the scene of the crash in 2023, statements by the driver and passenger in the SUV and internal police evaluations that are filed when officers use force against any defendant.
Khazaeli had told the judge and assistant circuit attorney Rob Huq that he understood the SLMPD was to blame for the problems with handing over evidence. But he said that he could not prepare for a case that was scheduled to go to trial on Nov. 12 without it.
A police spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.
The circuit attorney’s office said in a statement that it “takes its discovery obligations extremely seriously.”
“The Circuit Attorney’s Office has done everything within its power to comply with the Court’s order. The Circuit Attorney’s Office, however, respects the Court’s ruling to dismiss the case and will not be appealing the matter,” the statement said.
Pence, who was the first to come downstairs after the crash, was also handcuffed for allegedly interfering with the investigation, although he was never charged. He later filed a civil lawsuit against the SUV’s passenger and a responding officer for assault and battery, as well as negligence claims against the city. The suit also claims an officer assaulted Morris.
Morris said Thursday he relives the night of Dec. 18, 2023 every day.
“Every time I’m followed by a police car, any time there’s…,” he said, his voice trailing off. “It’s always triggering,” he said. “It’s a daily process.”
