Police say video proves white Missouri man lied about Black man assaulting him
Thanks to surveillance video, police in Florissant, Missouri have been able to disprove an account on social media about an alleged assault at a gas station.
Thanks to surveillance video, police in Florissant, Missouri have been able to disprove an account on social media about an alleged assault at a gas station.
Local television station KMOV4 reports that on Sunday, authorities were contacted by a man who claimed he was assaulted during a road rage incident at a BP gas station on Highway 67.
Shortly after the call, a social media post caught the attention of the Florissant Police Department. The post included pictures of the man’s injuries from the alleged incident and an account of what happened.
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While the photos were graphic and alarming, police found that the initial incident reported to officers and the sensational social media post were both “misleading and inaccurate.” Investigating surveillance video and witness statements brought the police to that conclusion.
Investigators surmised that a white woman exited a white vehicle on North Highway 67 and verbally threatened people sitting in a maroon vehicle. Both vehicles pulled into a BP parking lot and that’s when the driver of the white vehicle walked out of the car and started walking towards the maroon car.
Two men, who police describe as one Black and one Hispanic, got out of the maroon vehicle and started walking towards the woman and man.
During an argument, the white man from the white car was reportedly the aggressor and he pushed the Hispanic man before walking back towards his own car. As the men from the maroon vehicle turned to go back to their car, the white man pulled out a knife and charged towards them.
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When the Black man approached the white man to stop him, the white man retreated back to his vehicle while the woman continued arguing with the two other men and recorded the interaction on her phone.
When the white man got back into his vehicle, the men from the maroon car walked towards him and they continued arguing with each other. The white man then reversed his vehicle and tried to run over the Black man who was standing behind it.
It was only then that the Black man approached the driver’s side window and hit the white man. The driver of the white vehicle then went to the Goodwill lot next to the BP gas station and called police to report that he was assaulted, failing to mention he had instigated the altercation.
All individuals involved in the incident have been interviewed and charged, but the names of the suspects have not been released.
