Families sue St Louis Police, wrongful death in chase involving 3 Black Teens

The families of three teens killed during a pursuit three years ago filed a wrongful death suit Wednesday against the St. Louis police, claiming a patrol car bumped the fleeing auto and triggered a wreck.  On Nov. 17, 2001, officials said, Tyra Young, Darren Allen, and Martes Mosley were in a stolen Pontiac Grand Am when it crashed into a parked Salvation Army van and fire hydrant in the 4500 block of Martin Luther King Drive. Two van passengers suffered minor injuries.  A witness told the Post-Dispatch at the time of the accident that he saw a patrol car bump the Grand Am. Another said she saw the cars traveling close together.  But Police Chief Joe Mokwa said that police cars never touched the Grand Am and were at least two blocks away at the time of the crash. Mokwa said speeding and a flat tire caused the crash.  Police allowed the Post-Dispatch to review audiotapes of radio messages between police cars and a police helicopter. Those tapes suggest that police cars were not close to the Grand Am when it crashed. Mokwa also said that he asked officers to inspect the police cars involved in the chase and no damage consistent with a vehicle impact was found.  The witness statements triggered weeks of controversy, protests by community activists and calls for an investigation.  Police called for protesters to produce their witnesses, and said none of the witnesses they interviewed described any contact between cars.

• Incomplete List of Victims Killed Under Suspicious Circumstances by Police in St. Louis Compiled by The Coalition Against Police Crimes and Repression [more]