A St. Louis judge has thrown out the criminal case against a bar owner whose arrest garnered national attention because it happened after a police SUV crashed into his business.

Circuit Judge Rochelle Woodiest on Friday granted a motion from Chad Morris’ attorneys to dismiss the case. Morris was facing a misdemeanor assault charge, accused of hitting a St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department officer who had responded to the crash.

“This has been a very long two years, and it should have ended a long time ago,” Morris said Thursday after a court hearing.

Morris and his husband, James Pence, own Bar:PM in the Carondelet neighborhood. Early in the morning of Dec. 18, 2023, a police SUV with two officers inside crashed into the building. The driver, a rookie officer, initially claimed

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