A St. Louis drug dealer confesses to selling prescription drugs but still walks free
An investigating police officer recorded the city prosecutor's office refusing to even consider his report and evidence.
Author: Jacob Long
Published: 4:12 PM CST January 16, 2019
Updated: 7:35 PM CST January 16, 2019
ST. LOUIS — On paper, you might think it's a slam dunk case.
On January 1, two St. Louis Police officers got more than 1,000 highly addictive opiate pills and more than $30,000 in cash off the street.
It was the result of a drug investigation and surveillance that began the week before at a gas station in the 5000 block of S. Grand.
But that's not all.
The officers also got a confession from their one and only suspect.
According to a redacted police report obtained by 5 On Your Side, the lead officer on the case wrote the defendant "...admitted to selling prescription narcotics to support his own narcotics addiction."
But the St. Louis Police Officer's Association says what happened after the man was arrested might shock you.
"We're in the middle of an opioid crisis where people are dying every day from opioid overdoses and she's completely dismissive of that case," said the union's business manager Jeff Roorda.
On Friday, the lead officer on the case walked into the circuit attorney's warrant office at the Carnahan Courthouse to apply for delivery of a controlled substance charge.
It's a process all officers are required to do if they have probable cause to believe a crime has been committed.
Roorda said, "That's where we stop delivering justice and the prosecuting begins."
But in this case, Roorda said there was no justice.
Not only were no charges considered or filed, the officer was shown the door.
"They didn't even keep the report. They handed it back to him and said they weren't going to look at it," Roorda said.
5 On Your Side is not revealing the identity of the officer to protect his safety and the sensitive nature of this investigative work.
But his encounter inside the warrant office with two armed investigators and an assistant circuit attorney was captured with his cell phone. It's believed the officer was also armed at the time.
Click here to watch the video [in article].
Here is a transcript of the less-than-two-minute conversation [transcript in article]:
Afterward, the officer sent a memo to a police supervisor in the second district, where the drug investigation initiated.
In the memo, the officer writes that both investigators "were clearly displaying their firearms while staring at me. One of the investigators appeared to place his hand near his firearm multiple times throughout my conversation..."
He goes on to write "...I feel someone in the Warrant Office specifically requested ARMED individuals for the purpose of intimidation, and I fear this has happened or will happen to other Police Officers."
In conclusion, the officer writes "In my mind, this behavior is not only unnecessary but is completely unprofessional. The hostility demonstrated by the members of the Circuit Attorney's Warrant Office needs to be addressed before more Officers experience this aggression."
You can read the full memo here.
Roorda called the "show of force" highly inappropriate.
"They're supposed to do their job and so is Kim Gardner, and only one of those two things is happening," Roorda said.
On Wednesday, 5 On Your Side asked St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner about the video and the memo.
She said her armed investigators were already in the office and were not intentionally brought down when the officer arrived.
She said the officer, upon his arrival, was asked to leave by a desk clerk because he should have known his warrant application wasn't going to be entertained.
She said his stunt on camera just proves why the officer in question has been blacklisted by her office.
https://www.ksdk.com/article/news/local ... 056c987472 
“If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.” 
