North County police officers discuss woman stealing and crashing patrol car, hope viral video helps other cops
By Melanie Johnson
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ST. LOUIS, Missouri (KMOV) — In less than 10 seconds, North County Police Cooperative police officer Tony Moutray’s brand new patrol car was stolen and driven into a tree.
“Making a buttonhook for the car is something that neither one of us anticipated, says Officer Moutray. “My pride is a little bruised. I hate to see the department lose a car but as far as embarrassment goes no I hope people can watch the video and learn any way they can with it.”
A woman experiencing a mental health crisis hopped into his unlocked police car and crashed it seconds later. It happened on Capehart Drive in Vinita Park on Sunday.
Officer Mike Kortkamp was the first on the scene.
“I think she was afraid of us so at first I tried to take control of the situation and then take a step back to calm her down, so we can figure out who she was, where she lived and then she still didn’t know,” says Officer Mike Kortkamp.
“Her answers were so off the wall. It was pretty easy to recognize that there was a mental health crisis going on,” says Moutray.
News 4 obtained body camera footage showing the disturbance call turning left.
“From the panic and the confusion that she had that it could have gotten a lot worse than what it was,” says Kortkamp.
Both officers hope other members of law enforcement can learn from the viral video regarding demeanor and de-escalation during a mental health crisis.
“She was not a threat. There’s no point for me to tase her, rough-house her. She wasn’t fighting with me so I didn’t really need to take it to that level,” says Kortkamp. “You can de-escalate yourself as long as they’re not a threat to others.”
The North County Police Co-Op tells News 4 that the woman will remain in a psychiatric hospital until the end of the week.
Police plan to recommend treatment instead of jail time for the woman.
“We’re always going to be here,” says Moutray. “If she has an issue and needs someone to talk to, North County Co-op is always there.”
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