St. Louis Police's Warning to Stunt Drivers: 'You Will Be Spiked'

By Katie Kull

Source St. Louis Post-Dispatch

ST. LOUIS — City police said Monday they made no arrests but “sent a message” by spiking the tires of dozens of cars fleeing from a stunt driving event over the weekend.

Between 40 and 50 vehicles hit the strips early Saturday morning as they fled from the 6500 block of Manchester Avenue, according to police spokesman Mitch McCoy.

“If you come into our city and you engage in this reckless behavior and you flee us, you will be spiked,” McCoy said.

City police have battled for years with how to handle large groups of stunt drivers gathering in area intersections, parking lots and streets for so-called slide shows. The issue was even highlighted in the bill authorizing the state to take over the St. Louis police department, making it a crime to shut down a street for stunt driving or drag racing.

McCoy said the spike strip strategy — which has been used twice by authorities in recent weeks to break up stunt drivers — is effective for now.

But the use of spike strips has been connected to several high-profile instances resulting in injuries, or even death: Police have been struck by fleeing vehicles. Bystanders have been killed by speeding cars after hitting the strips.

McCoy said in an interview that the strips are a safe way to slow down reckless drivers but would not say how exactly they are deployed to protect officer safety. He also would not on Monday release a copy of the department’s spike strip policy and instead told a reporter to submit a records request.

City police first put their spike-stripping strategy to the test last month when groups of people popped up in six locations throughout the city, revving engines and sliding into intersections.

That night, they spiked 40 to 50 vehicles, police said. They only arrested one person — a juvenile who got into a crash turned himself in later.

On Friday just before midnight, police received 911 calls about another gathering of reckless drivers near Colombo’s Café and Tavern on the border of the Clayton-Tamm and Clifton Heights neighborhoods.

McCoy said the department’s Mobile Reserve Unit and SWAT team met nearby to make a plan.

A short time later, they surrounded the area, lights flashing and sirens blaring. The cars assembled fled, McCoy said, some faster than others.

Police then laid out the strips — a long line of spikes attached to a cord — to deflate the cars’ tires.

McCoy said there were about 80 vehicles present on the lot that night, but officers specifically targeted cars that were driving away with a reckless disregard for people’s safety, qualifying for a felony crime.

“At the end of the day, our intent is to stop as many vehicles as we can,” he said. “Not only are they posing a danger to public safety, but they’re actively fleeing officers.”

Police did not continue to chase people beyond the immediate area surrounding the gathering. Cars can go sometimes miles after being spiked before becoming completely inoperable.

McCoy said the department has plans to continue to use the same strategy in dealing with such gatherings.

“The approach we’re taking now is you’re being spiked if you’re going to engage in this behavior,” he said.

Spike strips have been deployed in several incidents in the St. Louis region that led to deadly crashes.

In May of 2022, a Jeep crashed into a family’s minivan at Delmar Boulevard and Pendleton Avenue near the Central West End, killing five of the seven inside. Police had thrown down spike strips a few blocks from the crash.

In December of that year, Lemont Lang, 29, of north St. Louis County, was killed when a car he was in sped away from police. The car ran over strips, swerved out of control, then hit an electrical box and another vehicle in the city’s Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood.

Spike strips have also been connected to a few crashes that injured officers.

In March, a driver fleeing a traffic stop hit and seriously injured a Metro East police officer after he laid down a spike strip, authorities said. Brooklyn Officer Josh Dallas had serious injuries to his leg and hand.

Later that month, a car fleeing police injured an officer at about 12:40 a.m. near Peck Street and Carter Avenue, in the city’s Fairground neighborhood. Officers put down spike strips to flatten the car’s tires, and the the suspect’s vehicle hit a police SUV as the officer was getting out of his patrol car, police said.

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