Former undercover officer found not guilty over a 2019 stop and search
A judge ruled that the prosecution had not proved its case, and that its evidence was at most circumstantial.
What happened
In November 2019 an off-duty officer who worked in an undercover drug unit stopped and searched a man after, he said, seeing what he took to be a drug deal.
In November 2020, after he had left the department, he was charged with unlawfully holding the man and taking cash from him.
The outcome
The case was tried before a judge in November 2021. The judge found that prosecutors had not proved the officer lacked probable cause for the stop, and that the evidence he had held the man unlawfully or taken his money was at most circumstantial. He was found not guilty on both counts.
Read the coverage
Past results afford no guarantee of future results, and every case is different and must be judged on its own merits. The summaries are written by the office from published reports; each article belongs to its publisher, and some require a subscription.
Photograph: St. Louis metropolitan police District 4 Chevy Tahoe by Jonathan Cutrer, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; cropped.
In the news
More officers’ cases
Other coverage of Brian’s cases for police officers.
All coverage-
Judge dismisses case against two officers after prosecutors withheld evidence
A St. Louis judge threw out the indictment of two officers after finding that prosecutors had deliberately kept a grand jury transcript from the defense.
-
Former officer found not guilty in a 2017 downtown arrest
A judge ruled that a former St. Louis officer acted lawfully and used objectively reasonable force in a 2017 arrest in which a man’s jaw was broken.
-
Former officer found not guilty over pepper spray at 2017 protests
A judge found that a former officer’s use of pepper spray at a September 2017 downtown protest was justified, after threats, attacks on other officers and orders to disperse.
-
Officer acquitted in the overtime pay case
The first of four officers charged over overtime pay was acquitted, after a judge found that forgery had not been proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
-
Former officer acquitted over an off-duty arrest at a gas station
A judge ruled that prosecutors had not proved a former officer lacked the authority to make an arrest while off duty, and that the force he used at a St. Louis gas station in 2019 was appropriate.
-
Overtime pay cases against three officers dropped
Prosecutors dismissed the overtime pay cases against the three remaining officers after a judge refused them more time to gather records.
Contact · Kirkwood office
Contact the office
If you have been involved in a critical incident, call before you give any statement. Otherwise, tell us what happened and we tell you where the matter stands.
Call 314.621.0622 Send a message
- Hours
- Weekdays, 8 am to 5 pm
- Visits by appointment