Photo: St. Louis County Police Department
A Missouri police officer is accused of driving a suspect to another town and brutally assaulting him. Authorities said that Officer Samuel Davis, 26, formally with the Northwoods Police Department, took the suspect into custody at a Walgreens on July 4.
However, Davis did not report that he detained anybody. Instead, he turned off his body camera and put the victim in the back of his squad car.
He then drove the victim to Kinloch, which is a few towns over from Northwoods. Once there, Davis allegedly sprayed the victim with pepper spray and beat him with his baton. He then told the victim to stay out of Northwoods before driving away.
A woman found the victim, who suffered several injuries, including a broken jaw. She posted a photo of the injured man on social media and told police that she saw a Northwoods police vehicle in the area. That information helped investigators locate Davis as a suspect.
Davis was taken into custody in Fayetteville, North Carolina, after he walked into another police department to apply for a job, according to KMOV. He is awaiting extradition to Missouri to face charges of first-degree assault, armed criminal action, and second-degree kidnapping.
Northwoods Police Chief Dennis Shireff said that Davis was placed on administration leave during the investigation and no longer works for the department.