ST. LOUIS — Body camera footage from a St. Louis police officer who recently stopped a St. Louis alderman shows a testy exchange between the two in which the alderman threatens to call the officer’s colonel and tells him of his political affiliation.
Alderman Joe Vaccaro told the I-Team the video doesn’t include the context of the situation, in which he said the officer was a “jerk” and violated COVID policies.
Vaccaro said he was running late for a meeting involving city business when he was pulled over for driving speeding in a 60 mph on Interstate 44 near Jefferson just before 9 a.m. on Feb. 10. The officer can be heard telling Vaccaro he was traveling 76 mph in a 60 mph zone.
He said he got out of his car before the officer could approach him because he was in a rush.
“That was inappropriate,” Vaccaro said, adding that he has since learned officers prefer for people to stay inside their cars and not approach them because they do not know if they could be armed or confrontational.
Vaccaro said he ultimately found his insurance card, but the officer issued a ticket for failure to have insurance anyway and told him to fight it in court. The alderman said the officer also “coughed all over him,” and wasn’t wearing a mask during their initial conversation.
“So I told him I was going to call the colonel,” Vaccaro said.
He said his only intention in calling the colonel was to report the officer for not wearing a mask and asking he be tested for COVID – not because he wanted to use his political influence to get out of the ticket.
“He went back to get a mask, but he had already coughed all over me,” Vaccaro said.
Vaccaro said he called Chief John Hayden to report the officer’s conduct and the chief offered to fix the tickets.
Hayden held a press conference following the release of the footage Thursday. He stopped short of saying he did not offer to fix the tickets.
"I've got the discretionary power as police chief to do such a thing in that regard, in this case, I did not have to act on that in any kind of way," Hayden told reporters.
The chief also said an internal investigation is still underway, but the alderman owes the officer, a 20-year veteran, an apology because he does not deserve the disparaging remarks Vaccaro has made about his conduct.
Vaccaro said he believes both men should apologize to each other.
"Do your job, but be courteous," Vaccaro said. "He was a jerk.
"You can clearly see he didn't give me time to get my insurance card out before he gave me the ticket."
Vaccaro said he declined the chief’s offer to fix the tickets, instead telling the chief he only wanted to make him aware of the officer’s conduct, demand the officer be tested for COVID and ask what the department’s policy is when it comes to wearing masks.
Vaccaro paid the tickets, which made the body camera footage publicly available Thursday. The police department denied the I-Team's sunshine request for the footage more than a week ago, saying it was part of an ongoing investigation.
Vaccaro said he wanted the footage to come out.
"I believe the video speaks for itself and vindicates me," he said.
He said a rapid COVID test came back positive for the officer, and a later test came back negative.
Vaccaro said he wasn’t going to take any chances, so he canceled a vacation fearing he could have been exposed to the virus.
Vaccaro is also the chairman of the Board of Alderman’s Public Safety Committee, and said he plans to call Hayden to testify under oath before them.
“I want to ask him under oath whether he offered to fix the tickets,” Vaccaro said.
Vaccaro also said he didn’t mind being ticketed.
“I’ve been begging them to write tickets,” he said, adding that he believes the city police department should do more traffic enforcement.
He said even though he was speeding, he was “moving at the same pace as traffic.”
He said he drives a large truck, so he believes that made it easier for the officer to "profile his truck" out of the pack of speeding cars.
The Ethical Society of Police provided the following statement:
"We as the Ethical Society of Police find the behavior and accusations by an elected official to tarnish the reputation of a veteran officer, a member of the Ethical Society of Police, as well as the Chief disturbing, extremely unprofessional and unacceptable.
"The body-cam video shows the officer being nothing less than professional and polite towards the Alderman.
"The Alderman, a Chair of the Public Safety Community, was found speeding in excess of 16 mph over the speed limit. After stopping, he exited his vehicle on a busy highway and was offended because he was given a command to return to his vehicle.
"The claim of racial discrimination and the Chief offering to fix the ticket is all false accusations and the Chief, as well as the officer, deserve public apologies."
St. Louis Police Officers Association President Jay Schroeder provided the following statement:
"I find the behavior of aldermen Vaccaro very troubling. We as police officers have a very tough job and this officer did his job and did it correctly. Alderman Vaccaro was way out of line and his accusations have been shown to be completely exaggerated. How can someone sit as the public safety chair when he treats his public servants this way? I hope the police department quickly moves forward with this investigation and exonerates this officer."