ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – An Overland police officer is accused of harassing, kidnapping, and assaulting his estranged pregnant wife earlier this week.
According to the St. Louis County Police Department’s probable cause statement, the incident took place around 11:30 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 24.
Police said Derrick S. Godfrey met his wife outside the county’s municipal police and fire academy on Sutter Avenue. The two of them sat in Godfrey’s vehicle in the parking lot.
At some point, Godfrey allegedly took his wife’s phone and wallet and refused to return them. Police said Godfrey sped off with his wife in the car before she could exit the vehicle.
According to the probable cause statement, Godfrey told his wife she owed him money and verbally berated her. She finally got out of the car when Godfrey stopped at a red light at Page Avenue and North Hanley Road and walked approximately two miles back to the academy.
Later that day, police said she went to Godfrey’s home on Palmer Drive to get her wallet and phone back. When she tried to leave the residence, Godfrey confronter her outside, grabbed her from behind, and pinned her against a car.
Police said Godfrey finally let his wife go after a passerby yelled at him to leave her alone.
Godfrey was arrested the following afternoon. Court documents did not say how long Godfrey has been a police officer.
The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Godfrey with first-degree harassment, third-degree kidnapping, and fourth-degree domestic assault – 1st or 2nd offense. He remains jailed on a $25,000 cash-only bond.
Godfrey is due in court for a bond reduction hearing on March 6, with a preliminary scheduled for March 20.