St. Louis Gay Bar Owner's Attorney Alleges Police Misconduct in Crash & Arrest Incident

[Eugene]

Source: The Advocate

St. Louis Gay Bar Owner's Attorney Alleges Police Misconduct in Crash & Arrest Incident

Javad Khazaeli spoke out on behalf of his clients, detailing allegations of police aggression and the community’s response following a controversial arrest at popular gay bar Bar: PM.

BY CHRISTOPHER WIGGINS
DECEMBER 19 2023 5:42 PM EST

A controversy in Missouri is brewing after police officers crashed a marked SUV into a gay bar before arresting one of the co-owners — a married gay couple — who had become upset. Now, an attorney for the men says he wants the charges dropped and all evidence preserved, and he’s considering a lawsuit for his clients.

Javad Khazaeli, a St. Louis civil rights attorney, spoke with The Advocate on Tuesday about the contentious incident at Bar: PM, an LGBTQ+ bar in St. Louis, involving local police officers. He represents the couple, Chad Morris and James Pence.

On Sunday night, two St. Louis City probation officers, a 32-year-old man and a 22-year-old man, crashed their police SUV into the bar, according to a police spokesperson. After the owners confronted the officers, both were detained, and one was arrested.

Khazaeli questioned the changing narratives of the police. Initially, officers claimed they swerved to avoid a dog but later said it was to avoid a parked car.

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Read more: https://www.advocate.com/news/st-louis-bar-arrest-lawyer

Link to tweet

[flvegan]

1. Swerved to "avoid a parked car"

And from the video posted. The very idea that THIS would be the excuse...what a bunch of feckless idiots. Not that it will matter.

After reading this story, watching the video, realizing where this is...all I hear is banjos.

[FHRRK]

2. WTF!

first though was Oral sex, but the drivers dick would have been bit off.

PD might want to go down (pun intended) and offer a million tomorrow to shut down any further review.

Oh, and fire the fucking cops.