St. Louis-area municipal worker accused of running over TV photojournalist

A municipal worker in suburban St. Louis has been arrested after allegedly running over and seriously injuring a TV station photojournalist as reporters hurled questions at a village leader who sought refuge in a public works truck.

FOX affiliate KTVI reported that the Velda City Police Department was called to investigate last month in Hillsdale, which has a population of around 8,100 and is one of nearly 90 municipalities in St. Louis County.

Police said the worker was taken into custody this week and released pending a prosecutor’s review to decide if charges will be filed.

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The station reported that its journalists had gone to Village Hall, which was closed for lunch at the time, because multiple residents faced threats that their cars would be towed.

After interviewing Police Chief John Bernsen outside, Fox Files hoped to talk to top village official Dorothy Moore, the chair of the Board of Trustees. The chief said Moore wasn’t there, but the reporters overheard her inside the building asking him what the reporters wanted.

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When the building reopened, they went inside to try to ask questions of Moore, who exited through the back door and climbed into the truck.

A Hillsdale employee also got in the vehicle and started to drive off at the urging of Moore, hitting photojournalist Wade Smith with a trailer attached to the truck, according to the police incident report. It said the vehicle continued without stopping and an ambulance arrived to take Smith to the hospital to be treated for a severe leg injury.

The report said Moore and the driver later returned to talk to police. The driver said he saw the photojournalist lying on the ground in the rearview mirror but was unaware he had been struck by the vehicle.

Hillsdale officials didn’t immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment. Moore has a history of not talking to reporters, and a sign at a small corner store where she holds court bars members of the media.