Seven arrested in downtown Columbia brawl, internal police use of force review underway
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Seven people were arrested on charges that included felony assault of a police officer during a brawl early Sunday in downtown Columbia.
Officers were called to the fight near Ninth and East Walnut streets at about 1:30 a.m. Police who were at the scene had requested emergency assistance, according to a news release.
A video posted on social media shows multiple people scuffling downtown early Sunday, with police trying to subdue them. It’s not clear from the video how the fight started or whether anyone fighting was seriously injured.
An officer was hit in the head and evaluated for injuries, but was not hospitalized.Columbia Police Chief Jill Schlude confirmed Monday the officer hit will be able to return to work without issue.
The seven suspects were arrested on suspicion of charges including peace disturbance, third-degree assault, assault on an officer and resisting arrest. One person had an outstanding warrant, the release states.
CPD released the names of the people detained during the incident in an updated press release on Monday evening:
Kaye’yanna Jacobs, 20, of Columbia, peace disturbance by fighting Ja’vonika Triplett, 19, of Columbia, peace disturbance by fighting Ja’jazania Houston, 23, of Columbia, peace disturbance by fighting Deasia Houston, 18, of Columbia, resisting arrest and peace disturbance by fighting Tinoz’shia Harris, 21, of Columbia, assault on a law enforcement officer and resisting arrest Ariana Jones, 21, of Columbia, peace disturbance by fighting Shawn Henderson, 57, of Kansas City, Mo., outstanding warrany
One suspect attempted to get away but was caught by officers, the release states.
Several people were pepper-sprayed and then decontaminated at the Columbia Police Department, CPD says. Each of them declined additional medical treatment. Schlude said pepper-spray is a resource officers are trained to utilize if necessary.
“It’s assessing the situation which sometimes takes place in a matter of just a split second. Pepper spray is a very real low level kind of equalizer in a fight. It’s very hard to fight if you can’t see what’s going on,” Schlude said.
A use-of-force review of the officers’ actions is underway. Schlude said as of Monday night no officers had been placed on leave.
“Uses of force are always reviewed through the chain of command to make sure they comply with policy and law. That can be something as low as a balance displacement, clear to shots being fired,” Schlude said.
Some people in downtown Columbia on Monday said they avoid downtown at night entirely due to its safety concerns.
Anna Regna, a University of Missouri student, said that the school has received complaints about how unsafe downtown Columbia is.
“There’s been a lot of just kind of clap back with, like, Mizzou, and they’re like, well, we don’t feel safe,” Regna said. “I would just say I would never feel safe to go out downtown by myself.”
This fight brought up concerns about downtown safety for Regna.
Regna said that after a Stephens College student was shot by a stray bullet in September during a fight, she is now cautious when roaming downtown because that bullet could have hit anyone in the area.
“She’s my age, and she’s gone,” Regna said. “She wasn’t even involved in it, and she just got, like, shot for no reason. So I feel like that was kind of scary for all of us because we were just like, we go out there like, we could have been there easily.”
When Regna is out downtown, she said she doesn’t see many officers patrolling.
“I don’t feel like I see a lot of police. I’m going to be honest, like I will see a lot of people getting like pulled over, which is probably good because they’re probably getting DUIs,” Regna said.
The fight has reignited a push for a dedicated downtown police unit. The unit was put on hold in April just before its expected May relaunch due to staffing issues. The unit was disbanded in 2019 and reintroduced by Schlude in October following the deadly September shooting. However, staffing continues to keep it on ice.
“We’re already down to a one person traffic unit, we disbanded the DWI unit, we just got to the point where we have more than one detective investigating property crimes,” Schlude said. “We really need a core group of six officers and a sergeant to be down there.”
Schlude said a dedicated downtown unit would help better police relationships with bars and create a familiarity with the community and the officer’s presence.
Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe did not want to speak about the fight directly, but did urge voters to pass a public safety sales tax, or Proposition 1, on the upcoming August ballot.
If approved by voters, the tax is expected to generate an estimated $38 million annually. The revenue would be dedicated exclusively to public safety, including hiring additional police officers and firefighters, purchasing equipment and vehicles, and improving public safety facilities.
“We constantly hear that public safety is our number one priority in our community and so for me this is a way for me to ask, okay if it’s our number one priority, we need to locally invest in that,” Buffaloe said.
Schlude said it was too early to say whether anything will be released publically after the internal review of the officers is completed.
ABC 17 News reached out to the Boone County prosecutor’s office on Monday.
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