ST. LOUIS — Family and friends of a man who died after a police chase on Tuesday held a vigil in Forest Park near the crash on Friday.
Jordan Brown-Garner was honored by his family and friends, who sported his favorite color of red in shirts, pants and shoes and balloons in Forest Park near Jefferson Lake. They remembered the 25-year-old as a beloved father, son and brother who often joked around, but they also called attention to the circumstances of his death.
On Tuesday night, Brown-Garner was driving a Jeep in the 5800 block of Theodosia Avenue. Police say he was driving recklessly and continued to speed away from officers. Two men jumped out of the vehicle; one got away and the other was arrested. The driver, Brown-Garner, later tried to get out of the vehicle while it was moving and was run over near Forest Park Parkway and Union Boulevard, police say. By Wednesday morning, police learned he died at a hospital.
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However, his family says they aren’t buying that story.
“It just doesn’t make sense. We need the truth,†said Brown-Garner’s mother, Crystal Crump, who noted she’s heard different accounts from others about how the crash happened, how police responded and his cause of death. Police say he was hospitalized with a head injury.
The family is awaiting an autopsy and may seek their own to know Brown-Garner’s cause of death. Meanwhile, family members said they have not been contacted by police. They’ve set his funeral for April 29.
Another question they have, which the city’s NAACP also supports seeking answers to, is whether the chase of Brown-Garner was within the department’s policy. ºüÀêÊÓƵ NAACP President Adolphus Pruitt, with whom Crump works, said the vehicle was not stolen, and he wondered why police put out spike strips and summoned helicopters to catch the violators of a traffic offense.
During the chase, a police helicopter tracked the Jeep to Martin Luther King Drive and Union Boulevard, where officers put down spike strips. The Jeep kept going until the two passengers jumped out at the 4100 block of Laclede Avenue to run away, while Brown-Garner kept driving until his crash.
The Post-Dispatch has submitted public records requests for police body camera and police vehicle dashboard footage. Police have denied requests, citing they cannot release them because the investigation is pending.
Kim Bell of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.