Man accused of striking officer says he was mistreated. Belleville police say otherwise

Belleville police say they were trying to help a man who called them Nov. 21 and reported someone had fired shots at him.

The man, Shawntez A. Luster of Florissant, Missouri, disputes the police account of the incident and says officers mistreated him and used excessive force.

The St. Clair County State’s Attorney’s Office charged Luster, 32, last week with one count of aggravated battery to a peace officer after the Belleville Police Department submitted its case.

Police stated that Luster struck a police supervisor in the face with a closed fist outside the BP convenience store at 1301 S. 74th St. shortly after 1 a.m.

The police department stated on its Facebook page that it posted audio of the call to police and video in connection with the incident to address false information on social media.

“We feel compelled to take the extraordinary step of releasing this audio / video so members of our community can see what actually occurred,” the department said. “We must balance maintaining the integrity of the criminal case with the safety and well-being of our community. We do not take this decision to release the video lightly and have done so after careful consideration.”

The audio and video are also posted with this article at bnd.com. The video includes footage from inside the convenience store and in its parking lot.

A protest that had been planned for Saturday afternoon calling for “justice for Shawntez Luster” was postponed “until we can gather more information from both sides,” according to a statement from JD Dixon, a Belleville resident and one of the lead organizers.

The official police statements and the Luster family offer conflicting accounts of what happened that morning at the BP station and afterward.

Luster’s family and his lawyer told the BND he suffered a broken tibia — also known as a shinbone — at the hands of police. His mother said he did not receive medical attention for hours while in police custody. “They didn’t have to do him like they did,” said Felicia McKinney, Luster’s mother.

A written release from Belleville Police Capt. Mark Heffernan stated that after officers arrived at the BP, they saw that Luster’s shoes were covered in mud, he had mud on his shirt and he was “not making complete sense.”

“Officers asked Luster if he was injured and needed medical attention,” the release stated. “Luster never acknowledged he needed medical attention while interacting with officers at BP. Luster proceeded to tell officers that he was kicked out of a vehicle but could not provide details. Luster showed officers an injury to his leg on his left side.”

Later, at the police station, officers contacted Emergency Medical Services, which determined Luster was “fit for confinement,” police said. According to police, Luster asked for medical attention again at 10:06 a.m. and was taken to a local hospital at his request.

Then he was returned to custody and taken to the St. Clair County Jail. Luster has been released on bond.

In an interview with the BND, Luster said he was in Belleville on Nov. 21 with his family who had gotten together to mourn the loss of his cousin — Torshon Napper — who was killed at a Sauget railroad crossing earlier this month while he was waiting for a train to pass by. The car Napper was sitting in was rear-ended by another vehicle, killing him instantly.

Luster said he had left his family and was heading home to Missouri when he stopped at the gas station in Belleville.

In the department’s written release, Belleville police said officers went to the BP after receiving a call at 1:13 a.m. They said the caller was later identified as Luster.

On the audio tape of the call, released by police on their Facebook page, the caller says he was walking toward the store and someone “literally shot at me like two or three times.”

At the scene, “officers observed the caller to be very intoxicated,” according to the written narrative on the video.

Officers tried to get more information about how he was injured and who he was with, but they said Luster “became irate,” according to the police.

Police said in the news release that Luster threatened the officers, accused them of being racist, and “yelled uncontrollably” as he ran through the store.

The police stated: “Officers continued to attempt to calm Luster to gather information regarding why he called the police. Officers on scene called for a supervisor to respond. Uninvolved patrons in the business at the time even attempted to intervene and calm Luster.

“Despite Luster’s threats and erratic behavior, Officers were able to assist Luster in ordering an Uber to transport him back to his residence in Missouri. Officers waited outside while Luster waited inside the business for the Uber in an attempt to de-escalate the situation with Luster. “

When the Uber arrived, officers said they told Luster it was time to leave, the police account states. Instead, he called a supervising officer a racist and threatened to punch him, according to the police statement.

“Officers again plead with Luster to depart the area in the Uber, but he continually attempted to engage the supervisor in a confrontation,” the release said. “Despite officers’ attempts to maintain distance between them and Luster, Luster struck the supervisor with a closed fist in the face. The supervisor sustained an injury to his mouth as a result of being struck.

“Luster was taken to the ground by officers on scene and secured in handcuffs. Luster was transported to Police Headquarters and booked per department procedure.”

Both Luster and his lawyer, Darin Sorrel of St. Louis, told the BND that Luster was not the person who called the police that day and they don’t know who did.

And Luster said he asked for medical help several times but the police who were dealing with him at the jail ignored his cries of pain, made him hop around inside of the police station from a cell to an interrogation room and was told repeatedly he was not injured. Luster said officers also used racial slurs.

“It was bad,” Luster recalled. “It was bad”.

Luster’s mother said the family hired Sorrel because they want justice for Luster and because Luster didn’t deserve mistreatment by police.

Luster said he admits he was intoxicated, and if the police had taken him to jail for being intoxicated in public, he knows he would have had to live with that. But, he said the pain and agony he suffered at their hands should never have happened.

He said he didn’t do anything to cause the police to use “excessive force” and to deny him medical attention.

Luster referred any specific questions pertaining to whether he made contact with the supervisor’s face or how to Sorrel.

Sorrel said in an interview that “two male officers attempted to provoke (him) using racial slurs, including the N-word.”

“One of them referred to him as boy. He is a 32-year-old man,” Sorrel said.

Sorrel said Luster suffered a fractured shinbone.

“We are awaiting video surveillance from the jail and BP. We have asked whether the officers were wearing body cameras,” Sorrel said.

Beyond the news release and the posted video and audio, the police department had no further comment.

The BND has filed FOIA requests with the police department asking for all additional video and audio of the incident.

Staff writer Lexi Cortes contributed to this story.

This story was originally published November 29, 2020 at 5:00 AM.