ST. LOUIS — A former police officer is facing three charges of assault after charging documents said he was recorded pepper-spraying protesters of the Jason Stockley decision outside Busch Stadium in 2017.
Charging documents said William C. Olsten, 33, was charged with three counts of third-degree assault for temporarily blinding three people by spraying pepper spray into a crowd of protesters without a clear warning or order to disperse or allowing people time to disperse if the warnings were given.
Charging documents said multiple videos of the Sept. 27 incident showed people protesting at near the intersection of Walnut and Broadway, right outside Busch Stadium. The documents said the video showed someone being shot with a stun gun, causing tempers to flare between protesters and police.
The video showed the victim yelling and cursing at Olsten, who was being held back by another officer. Olsten can be seen in the video breaking away from the other officer with a can of pepper spray in his hand and spraying the victim, according to the documents.
Olsten then pointed the can left and right, spraying Democratic St. Louis Committeeman Rasheen Aldridge and livestreamer Heather DeMian, the charges said.
Olsten's face is visible throughout the video, according to the documents, and "he does not appear to be frightened, he is angry." The documents said the protest was peaceful and police did not arrest or try to arrest any of the victims.
All three victims were temporarily blinded by the pepper spray.
Two of the assault charges were class-D felonies because they were against "special victims". DeMian uses a wheelchair due to a medical condition and Aldridge has one leg and walks with a noticeable limp even with a prosthetic.
The other charge was a class-E felony.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department said Olsten is no longer with the department as of Jan. 31, 2018.
Olsten was also charged with first-degree assault in connection with a shooting outside a south St. Louis bar. He was placed on administrative suspension after he was charged. The mugshot in this story is from that arrest.
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