Assault charges filed in Stephens Park standoff
Olivia Hayes
COLUMBIA, Mo.
Charges have been filed against the man involved in an hours-long standoff at Stephens Lake Park on Monday.
Tre’Shon Terrell Smith, of Columbia, is charged with third-degree assault of a special victim, fourth-degree assault, first- and second-degree property damage and resisting arrest. Two of the charges are felonies.
The probable cause statement says multiple calls came in reporting a man was in the park with a knife and alcohol Monday afternoon. A drone unit with the Columbia Police Department saw multiple injuries on the man and saw him with a knife.
Probable cause statementDownload
The Columbia Police Department urged the public to avoid Stephens Lake Park during the response.
“Please avoid Stephens Lake Park! Columbia Police are currently responding to an active incident. We’re asking the public to avoid the area while the incident unfolds,” CPD wrote in a social media post.
A CPD spokesman said police were sent to the park at about 2:20 p.m. for a call of a suicidal person. The man had a knife and had threatened “suicide by cop.”
Court documents say Smith was trying to harm himself and destroy property at Stephens Lake Park. Officers used a stun gun to take him into custody. The documents say he also destroyed several picnic tables at the park.
An ABC 17 News reporter saw police on scene Monday putting Smith in handcuffs just before 7 p.m.
Officer Benjamin Ludwig wrote in the probable cause statement that he was responsible for taking Smith to University Hospital’s psychiatric center.
Smith allegedly damaged Ludwig’s police car during the drive by kicking it and causing more than $750 in damage. Ludwig said Smith also threatened to locate and harm him, Officer Matthew Kempfer and Kempfer’s family.
Ludwig also said he observed Smith make statements to multiple officers about how he would locate them and their families on social media and how he wished to sexually assault their partners.
Smith allegedly attacked Kempfer and hospital employees while being taken to receive treatment at University Hospital. Documents say he cut Kempfer and bit a hospital employee.
Smith remained at the University of Missouri Psychiatric Center on Tuesday morning. A judge set bond at $10,000. The state sought a $25,000 bond, citing the extension resources used in taking Smith into custody and the aggression he showed to first responders. The bond memo also says he tried to escape custody multiple times.