Officer kidnapped man arrested at Walgreens and left him ‘bloody and wounded,’ cops say
The Missouri officer was arrested in North Carolina, police said.
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A Missouri officer kidnapped and assaulted a man he arrested at Walgreens, then he fled the state, authorities said.
Now, the 26-year-old Northwoods cop has been arrested in Fayetteville, North Carolina, according to a news release from the St. Louis County Police Department. The man, identified as Samuel Davis, is charged with first-degree assault, armed criminal action and second-degree kidnapping and will be extradited back to Missouri.
In a probable cause statement, investigators said someone called 911 after finding a man “bloody and wounded” in Kinloch.
The victim reported an officer, later identified as Davis, arrested him at a Walgreens in Northwoods on July 4, according to the statement.
The man was handcuffed in the back of Davis’ police car, police said, and then Davis deactivated his body camera.
Davis did not tell dispatch he had a suspect in custody, authorities said, and instead drove the man to a “remote location” in Kinloch.
“There, the officer pepper sprayed the victim, struck him repeatedly with a baton, and ordered him not to return to the City of Northwoods,” police said.
He was later found with “serious physical injuries resulting from the Defendant’s assault with the baton, including a broken jaw,” according to the probable cause statement.
The 911 caller provided eyewitness details “consistent” with the victim’s statement, police said.
Investigators said Davis did not write a report on the arrest at Walgreens or the assault in Kinloch.
On July 14, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office issued an “at large” warrant on Davis, officials said. Davis was arrested on July 17.
Once back in Missouri, he’ll be held on a $750,000 cash-only, no 10% bond.
Authorities have not said if Davis and the victim knew each other prior to the incident.
McClatchy News requested comment from the Northwoods Police Department and was awaiting a response.
Northwoods and Kinloch are part of the St. Louis metropolitan area.
