ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - St. Louis Prosecutors have reduced the charges of a 37-year-old bar owner in South St. Louis who bar was crashed into by a police SUV Monday night.
On Tuesday, surveillance video was released of a St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department SUV crashing into the front of Bar: PM, located on 7109 S. Broadway.
According to police, an officer and his partner, who were both first-year St. Louis City Probation Officers, were traveling northbound on South Parkway before hitting the front of Bar: PM.
The officer driving originally claimed he'd swerved to avoid a dog, but police say in their statement the officer thought he was travelling too close to a parked car and attempted to correct himself.
The attempt led to the driver losing control and crashing into the bar.
The bar's owner, identified as Chad Morris, 36, responded to the scene and was visibly upset from the incident, shout obscenities' and at the officers.
Another officer, who arrived to the scene, attempted to calm the situation down, but Morris shoved the officer. The officer's partner attempted to put Morris in handcuffs, with Morris being taken to the ground at one point before being placed in handcuffs.
Prosecutors initially charged Morris with third-degree assault on a special victim, which is a felony. However, they amended it to fourth-degree assault and resisting arrest, two misdemeanors.
Morris' lawyer Javad Khazaeli, who released the footage on his X, formerly known as Twitter, was first to announced Tuesday morning Morris initial charge of a felony would be dropped a misdemeanor.
However, Khazaeli says that he believes it ain't enough and says they have more footage to show that the officers were the aggressors, not Morris.
"We have video that shows that the police were the aggressors. And Chad did nothing wrong," Khazaeli wrote on X.
Khazaeli says despite the incident, the bar will be open tonight to "celebrate Chad’s release."
No one was seriously injured from the incident.