MO officer faces charges for alleged abuse leading to severe injuries, including broken jaw
A second police officer from a suburban St. Louis department is now facing charges after a man was allegedly driven to a secluded spot and beaten until his jaw broke.
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell on Wednesday announced that his office charged Northwoods, Missouri, Police Officer Michael Hill, 51, with second-degree kidnapping. Hill is jailed on $100,000 cash-only bond and doesn't yet have a listed attorney.
On Monday, Northwoods Officer Samuel Davis, 26, was charged with assault and kidnapping, stemming from an arrest on July 4. St. Louis County police said Davis handcuffed a man, then turned off his own body camera before driving him to a secluded spot, where the man was allegedly pepper-sprayed, beaten with a baton and told not to return to Northwoods.
A witness called 911 after finding the bloodied man. Police said the victim’s jaw was broken, among other serious injuries.
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This photo provided by St. Louis County Police Department shows Michael Hill. (St. Louis County Police Department via AP)
The probable cause statement in Hill's arrest said he was Davis' supervising officer and was with Davis when the man was taken into custody at a Walgreens store. The statement said Hill told a store employee "what would happen to the victim."
Like Davis, Hill never activated his body camera, never informed the dispatcher that a suspect was in custody, and didn't write a report, the probable cause statement said.
"There is no excuse for this criminal conduct, and my office will prosecute these officers to the fullest extent of the law," Bell said in a statement.
Northwoods police Chief Dennis Shireff told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Davis has been suspended as the investigation plays out.
