Courtroom sketch of Officers Colletta, Myers, Boone, and Hays
KMOV
ST. LOUIS (KMOV.com) — The four St. Louis Metropolitan Police officers indicted for their action during the Jason Stockley protests did not make a comment following their first court appearance Friday.
All four turned themselves in and appeared before the judge at the federal courthouse, and all four were released pending their next court date.
ST. LOUIS (KMOV.com) — Four St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD) officers have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their part in the arrest and beating of another officer who was working undercover during protests in the city in September last year.
Friday’s proceedings were just the beginning of what could be a long court case.
Prosecutors say Christopher Myers, Randy Hays, and Dustin Boone threw an undercover police officer to the ground, kicked him and hit him with a baton during protests following the Jason Stockley verdict in mid-September of 2017. Stockley, a former police officers, was found not guilty of murder in the shooting death of Anthony Lamar Smith.
The indictment alleges the three men thought the officer was a protester, and their assault on him happened despite him being compliant and not posing a physical threat.
Colletta is accused of lying to a grand jury during the investigation of the incident, as are the other three officers.
The indictment outlines text messages exchanged between the officers which prosecutors say expressed disdain for protesters and their excitement for using unjustified force against them.
The judge released the officers Friday, deciding not to hold them in custody until their next court date. They’ll be back in court next week to enter formal pleas in the case.
All four officers are suspended without pay.
The St. Louis Police Officers Association is providing the four officers with legal representation. None of the attorneys News 4 spoke with had a comment Friday.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner dismissed 91 criminal cases associated with the four officers, and said her office would continue reviewing cases where any of the four were involved or would testify.