Pine Lawn Alderman Gerald Metts has been charged with driving while intoxicated after a police body camera caught his arrest following a car crash in June near a crime scene in St. Louis County. As reported by KSDK, Metts, driving a 2021 Chevrolet Equinox, crashed into a guardrail and a chain-link fence which resulted in his vehicle dangling over a retaining wall above the crime scene officers were investigating.
According to court documents, Metts failed all field sobriety tests and was found to have a blood alcohol level of .154, nearly double the legal limit. The incident was captured on body camera footage, in which Metts can be heard identifying himself as an "alderperson in Pine Lawn." Despite his position, Assistant Police Chief Major Ron Martin emphasized that "it doesn’t matter who you are," as reported by First Alert 4, and added that the North County Police Cooperative treats everyone equally with no special treatment. Moreover, Metts later approached the police department to ostensibly to try to get his driver's license back, asking command staff, "is there is something that could be done?"
In a twist that allegedly coincides with the DWI charge, Metts requested that the board consider to removing the North County Police Cooperative from Pine Lawn. When questioned by a FOX 2 news crew on whether he should be involved in actions against the police department, Metts responded, "I believe so, because it's been my thing that I don't like them," later clarifying his statement to express a need for the department to "step up more." However, his efforts seemingly made no significant headway given the three-year contract the city has with the police cooperative, currently only in its first year.
Mayor Terry Epps has since spoken out in support of the North County Police Cooperative, praising their community service and policing efforts. Despite his own legal troubles, Metts said he preferred the days when Pine Lawn conducted its own policing. The alderman was formally charged with DWI on September 5, and the legal proceedings are ongoing. "I think they’re doing a great job," Epps told FOX 2 in defense of the police department's track record in the community.
