St. Louis Metropolitan Police Chief is defending officers who chased a vehicle that crashed into an innocent motorist’s SUV, leaving an innocent man dead, his wife in critical condition and a suspect dead.
According to police, officers stopped an erratically driven Ford Bronco at St. Louis and West Florissant avenues about 6:30 p.m.
The Bronco was occupied by three men in their 20s. Police suspected that one of the men had a firearm illegally. One of the men flourished a handgun at officers, and then the driver sped off in the vehicle.
The chase ended when the SUV crashed into a vehicle being driven by Nathaniel Cole, 56, of St. Louis. He was killed instantly and his wife, Annie Cole, is in critical condition.
The driver of the SUV being pursued by police, Robert Smith, 23, of St. Louis, died this morning.
Police Chief Joe Mokwa told KSDK Newschannel 5 the suspects have a criminal history and his officers were justified in chasing them because shots were fired at police.
“When you recognize these people as wanted for driving stolen automobiles and flourishing guns to police, at some point we have to take some action or we can give the city streets up to these kind of people,” Mokwa said.