Belleville man injured by car fleeing deputy. It cost St. Clair County $190K
A Belleville man who was injured by a car fleeing authorities has sued not only the driver but also the St. Clair County deputy who was chasing him that day in the spring of 2020.
Stephen Misselhorn was driving his 2016 Honda Civic through a green light at the intersection of North Belt West and North 17th Street in Swansea when a 1995 Saturn SL being pursued by police collided with his passenger side.
Misselhorn’s lawsuit, filed in St. Clair County Circuit Court, accused Sgt. Eric Tracy of violating sheriff’s department policy by pursuing the car.
The complaint also alleged that Tracy, who was a deputy at the time, had violated department policy before. Misselhorn further accused Sheriff Rick Watson of failing to prevent his injuries by not providing training on procedures for vehicle pursuits.
Misselhorn injured his neck, back and leg in the crash, according to the complaint.
The St. Clair County officials denied the allegations against them in their response to the lawsuit. But this year, the county paid Misselhorn $190,000 to settle the claims against Tracy and Watson and avoid a trial.
Tracy and Watson didn’t respond to requests for further comment. Misselhorn’s attorneys also didn’t respond.
Negligence claims remain ongoing against the driver, Manuel Bijarro Jr., and Bradley Cohlman, the owner of the Saturn. The next court date is scheduled in September.
Neither Bijarro nor Cohlman has hired an attorney or filed a response to the lawsuit, court records show. Their summonses were served to relatives at their addresses in 2021, when the complaint was originally filed.
Deputy accused of violating policy
Before the pursuit and crash at the Swansea intersection, six investigators from the St. Clair County Drug Tactical Unit were surveilling a house at 121 S. 17th St. in Belleville in unmarked cars, according to investigative reports. The Belleville News-Democrat obtained documents from authorities through public records requests.
The officers were investigating possible drug activity and an armed robbery that had been reported to Belleville police days earlier. When Bijarro and a passenger left the home, investigators followed their car. It was around 3 p.m. Wednesday, May 13, 2020.
Tracy activated his lights and sirens to stop the Saturn near North 17th Street and Kingsbury Drive in Belleville. According to his report, Tracy tried to stop the car because Bijarro didn’t use a turn signal and crossed into the center turn lane multiple times.
The report states Bijarro told his passenger he wasn’t stopping because he had a warrant. Bijarro, now 36, disputed that allegation in an interview with the BND. He also disputed the allegations from Tracy’s report that he violated any traffic laws that day.
He said he was skeptical of Tracy’s unmarked car because he had heard news reports about people impersonating police officers to rob drivers. When another officer moved his unmarked truck next to the Saturn, Bijarro said he felt he was being run off the road and became frightened, so he fled.
“I didn’t even know it was the police,” Bijarro said. “... That was my instinct: to book it. I didn’t know if it was a gang member or somebody trying to rob me.”
The St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department vehicle pursuit policy states that officers are only allowed to chase a vehicle for two reasons:
- They have reasonable suspicion that the driver or an occupant of that vehicle has committed a violent felony
- There is evidence of outrageous, reckless driving possibly in association with driving under the influence, which was observed before the pursuit started
Bijarro and his passenger didn’t match the description of the armed robbery suspect, who Belleville police said is a Black man. Bijarro is white and the passenger is a woman, according to the Drug Tactical Unit observation notes.
Officers are also required to consider the area, weather conditions, the presence of other traffic and the speed of the pursuit, according to the policy.
Misselhorn’s lawsuit accused Tracy of recklessly pursuing Bijarro at a high rate of speed through a residential area on a two-lane road with multiple stop signs.
Tracy reported his top speed in his pursuit of Bijarro was 50 mph. Bijarro told officers that he was driving between 70 and 80 miles per hour. The speed limit was 35.
The BND requested Tracy’s disciplinary records from the sheriff’s department. St. Clair County provided the BND a copy of a notice from Sheriff Watson detailing Tracy’s past violation of the vehicle pursuit policy.
When Tracy was a passenger during a pursuit in 2016, he reported in radio communications that a deputy was almost struck by the suspect vehicle. Video evidence of the incident showed that was “not completely accurate,” according to the notice.
Tracy also failed to document his speeds during the pursuit and detail the events that led up to it, the notice stated.
He was suspended for eight days without pay.
The sheriff’s department wasn’t able to locate the referenced video evidence or Tracy’s report on the 2016 pursuit in response to a follow-up records request.
Vehicle pursuit ends in crash
Bijarro continued fleeing on North 17th Street toward the traffic lights at the intersection with North Belt West.
In interviews with the BND and police, Bijarro said he hit the brakes to try to stop, but the road was wet from rain. He slid into the intersection and collided with Misselhorn’s Honda.
The collision spun the Honda into another car, a 2016 Chrysler 200 that was stopped in a turn lane on North Belt West, according to the crash report from Swansea police.
Bijarro said he tried to stop because he saw a marked patrol car with its emergency lights on and sirens sounding. At the time, the traffic light was changing from yellow to red, he said.
After the crash, Bijarro ran away. He said he was trying to get to a nearby business parking lot where he thought there would be a surveillance camera to record his arrest. Bijarro doesn’t trust police based on past encounters that he said involved officers punching him and shocking him with a Taser.
“In my experience when dealing with police, if you don’t get on a camera they’re going to do whatever they want to you,” he said. “… I’ve had a lot of bad experience with police.”
The deputies in this case reported they used a Taser, “closed hand strikes” and “knee strikes” on Bijarro because they said he was ignoring verbal commands to stop and refusing to be handcuffed.
Bijarro was ultimately convicted of meth possession and aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude an officer causing injury because of the crash.
He told investigators the drugs they found in the Saturn were for personal use, including about a gram of meth. Bijarro was sentenced to four years in prison in 2022, with credit for time he served in jail.
Cohlman, who owns the car according to police and court records, didn’t respond to an interview request.
The South 17th Street house that authorities were surveilling before the pursuit was later raided by the Drug Tactical Unit in May 2021. It has since been demolished by the city of Belleville.
St. Clair County wrote its $190,000 settlement check to Misselhorn on May 15. St. Clair County Circuit Judge Heinz Rudolf dismissed the claims against them in a June 5 order.
A status conference for the lawsuit’s remaining claims against Bijarro and Cohlman is scheduled for Sept. 9.
This story was originally published August 15, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
