The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office issued charges against two Fenton men and one Arnold man last week for first-degree assault on an off-duty St. Louis County Police Officer.
Matthew Devlin, 39, of the 700 block of Kublai Drive in Fenton, was charged with three counts of first-degree assault, two counts of armed criminal action and one count of first-degree kidnapping.
Garrett Gibbs, 23, of the 1000 block of Fenton Park Drive in Fenton, was charged with two counts of first-degree assault, armed criminal action and first-degree kidnapping.
Donnie Hurley II, 42, of the 1900 block of Melody Lane in Arnold, was charged with two counts of first-degree assault, armed criminal action and first-degree kidnapping.
Devlin and Hurley were arrested on Oct. 8, while Gibbs was arrested on Oct. 10.
Devlin is being held on a $250,000 cash-only, no 10%, bond. Both Gibbs and Hurley are being held on $100,000 cash-only, no 10%, bonds.
The charges are merely accusations. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
According to a news release from the St. Louis County Police Department, officers from the South County Precinct responded to a call for service for an assault in the construction zone at South Lindbergh Boulevard and Lemay Ferry Road at 10:40 p.m. Sept. 26. 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.
The first officer who arrived on scene observed at least two white males holding down a Black male. The officer placed the Black male in handcuffs and the second officer who arrived on scene walked the handcuffed individual away from the area where the fight occurred.
The first officer did not initially recognize the Black male as a St. Louis County police officer – he was off-duty, driving in an unmarked car and wearing plain clothes – but did a short time after the initial interaction.
The officers continued their investigation, and once it was determined that the officer was not the aggressor in the incident, the handcuffs were removed. The officer was in handcuffs for approximately 10 minutes. Due to accusations of alcohol use, the SLCPD officer did participate in standardized field sobriety testing. He did not show any signs of impairment.
All individuals were then released from the scene of the incident in anticipation of further investigation and warrant application for possible charges.
Further investigation was conducted by the St. Louis County Bureau of Crimes Against Persons detectives, entailing the collection of physical evidence and interviewing multiple witnesses. The investigation determined that the SLCPD officer was a victim of assault.
Witnesses stated that Devlin used repeated racial slurs while screaming at the victim, and told the victim that he did not “belong down here” and “go back to the hood with your gold chain.”
Devlin then escalated the verbal altercation by striking the victim in the head with a hardhat. Subsequently, Gibbs and Hurley held the victim while Devlin beat him with the hardhat. Later, Hurley, with the assistance of Devlin and Gibbs, choked the victim by holding him in a headlock, with the victim pleading with them that he could not breathe. The events were interrupted by the arrival of officers who were called to the scene after a 911 call was placed by a witness.
Detectives and the prosecuting attorney discussed the application of Missouri State Statute 557.035 – Hate Offenses. It was, however, determined it could not be applied as an enhancement to the charges issued per the requirements of the statute.
The victim was placed in an administrative role within the police department immediately following the incident. He has since returned to his full patrol duties.
