Four St. Charles County-area cops charged with assault, false reporting
November 19, 2009
By Joel Currier

ST. CHARLES COUNTY -- Four St. Charles County area police officers who served on a regional drug task force are facing misdemeanor charges including assault.

Investigators say the charges stem from a drug arrest in February at a home in Montgomery County. Prosecutors say two St. Charles County sheriff's deputies, and officers from O'Fallon, Mo., and Lake Saint Louis entered the home to arrest a man without a search warrant and assaulted him before handcuffing him.

Sheriff's Deputy Christopher E. Hunt, 35, is charged with trespassing, property damage, making a false report and two counts of third-degree assault. Sheriff's Deputy William S. Rowe III, 32, Lake Saint Louis officer Dion E. Wilson, 36, and O'Fallon officer Deric C. Dull, 32, are charged with third-degree assault and making a false report. The officers could not be reached for comment.

"I still do not understand the basis for these charges," task force chairman and Wentzville Police Chief Robert Noonan said Wednesday. The charges were filed Oct. 30.

On Feb. 5, a dozen officers with the St. Charles County Regional Drug Task Force and the East Central Drug Task Force (which serves Warren, Audrain, Pike and Montgomery counties) went to a home to arrest Phillip Alberternst, 43, on felony drug charges.

East Central's officers were searching the property when Hunt arrived and kicked in a porch door, according to court records. Hunt and the three other officers from St. Charles County are accused of kicking and punching Alberternst. Police said Alberternst resisted arrest.

East Central's chairman, Audrain County Sheriff Stuart Miller, asked the Missouri Highway Patrol to investigate after hearing complaints about the arrest from his officers.

"I was told there were some problems with the arrest that may not have been legal, and I felt like there should be an independent investigation," Miller said.

Alberternst was sentenced in March to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to methamphetamine charges. Alberternst's attorney said Wednesday he was unaware of the charges against police.

The deputies and the O'Fallon officer have left the task force for reasons unrelated to the arrest, officials said.

Hunt has been with the sheriff's department for five years, and Rowe for seven. An internal investigation found no basis for disciplinary action, St. Charles County Sheriff Tom Neer said.

"If, God forbid, any of these charges would be upheld, virtually every police officer in the United States at some point in their career could be charged criminally for doing their job," Neer said.

O'Fallon Interim Chief Bill Seibert said an internal investigation in February found no reason to discipline Dull, who has been on the force for eight years.

Lake Saint Louis Police Chief Michael Force said Wilson, a 10-year veteran, was put on paid administrative leave this month pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

The officers will be arraigned Dec. 3 in Montgomery County.