ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – Three road workers face charges of assault, kidnapping and armed criminal action following an altercation with an off-duty police officer in their work zone. Prosecutors allege one of the defendants also yelled racial slurs during the incident.
Defendant Matt Devlin, who’s accused of yelling racial slurs during the assault, had his bond set at $250,000 cash-only. The other two defendants, Donnie Hurley and Garett Gibbs, had their bonds set at $100,000 cash-only. On Tuesday, their attorneys were in St. Louis County Circuit Court to argue for bond reductions.
It’s a case in which the St. Louis County Police Department says it’s still seeking information from possible witnesses of a Sept. 26 work zone assault on Lindbergh and Lemay. It happened at about 10:30 p.m., when an off-duty St. Louis County police officer reportedly drove into a coned work zone.
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Three road workers are accused of assaulting him. Two of them, Gibbs and Hurley, told FOX 2 prior to their arrest that the off-duty officer started the fight. A third defendant, Matt Devlin, who we have not spoken with, is accused of using racist language during the incident.
Civil rights leaders are asking for charges to be escalated to include hate crimes.
In court Tuesday, three different defense attorneys say hateful language has nothing to do with the assault. Defense counselor John Rogers called the case a “very creative prosecution,” adding that the “investigation should surround the conduct of the off-duty police officer.” Defense attorney Brianne Besheer added that the workers were simply “responding to someone acting crazy in their work zone.”
Judge John Newsham took the arguments under consideration but, just after 5 p.m., denied the defendants’ requests for bond reductions.
Late Tuesday afternoon, St. Louis County police released new details on the Sept. 26 arrest, including how the original 911 call came in.
Police said, “the caller alleged that at least three people were fighting one another… (and that) one subject, a black male, was intoxicated and being held down by others.”
Police acknowledged initially handcuffing the off-duty officer and later removing them after authorities determined “the officer was not the aggressor.”
According to police, officers at the scene conducted “standardized field sobriety testing” and that the off-duty officer “did not show any signs of impairment.”
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