ST. LOUIS 鈥 Prosecutors dismissed criminal cases last week against three men accused of holding a woman hostage in the basement of a south city church because the evidence didn鈥檛 support the charges, a spokeswoman said.
Pasi Heri, of the city鈥檚 Dutchtown neighborhood; Grace Kipendo, of Arnold; and Mmunga Fungamali, a Canadian citizen, were charged in March with kidnapping and assault after they were accused of holding a woman against her will at the Mount of Olives Ministry Pentecostal church in the city鈥檚 Patch neighborhood.
But attorneys had long argued the charges resulted from a misunderstanding between St. Louis police and members of the church who mostly spoke Swahili. Their clients, they said, were innocent.
鈥淚t was a rush to judgment from jump street in this case,鈥 said attorney Chris Combs, who represented Kipendo. 鈥淭here was no evidence.鈥
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Police were called just before 1:30 a.m. on Feb. 24 to the Mount of Olives Ministry on Marceau Street, where a witness said they saw a woman, bloodied and bound by ropes, standing outside.
The woman told police she was locked in a room, only given water and beaten, according to court documents. They found a bucket filled with feces and urine in the room where she said she鈥檇 been held.
But despite that evidence and the woman鈥檚 story, Combs said there was confusion from the start: The church was filled with about 40 parishioners who had had gathered at the church that night for an event. They were dressed in religious regalia, singing and chanting.
Police tried to question people, but the congregants didn鈥檛 speak English. Kipendo, a U.S. military veteran, was the only person who was fluent. He began to translate.
The woman pointed out a few people in the crowd, and police searched the building.
Kipendo, Heri and Fungamali were arrested and taken to jail. Kipendo lost his nonemergency medical transport business and military benefits, Combs said. He was away from his wife, who was pregnant an experiencing complications.
鈥淭his devastated my guy鈥檚 life,鈥 Combs said.
The city briefly condemned the church building because police said people were living there without permits. That condemnation, however, was later rescinded after further investigation.
鈥淚 think their biggest concern was that police felt like people were living there like it was their home, but they were there for the fasting and prayer event,鈥 Pastor Arlie Singleton said in March.
Combs said at a court hearing that the woman who claimed to have been kidnapped was brought to the church by her parents and was suffering from a 鈥渕ental health issue鈥 on the night she was found.
But he said Sunday he also later learned as more evidence emerged that the woman had never explicitly named Kipendo as one of her kidnappers. She also named different people in subsequent interviews.
Combs said he believed that police didn鈥檛 conduct much investigation beyond that confusing first night at the church.
鈥淚 think police should鈥檝e done more,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 do any follow-up.鈥
Christine Bertelson, a spokeswoman for St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore鈥檚 office, said Sunday that prosecutors would review additional evidence if it came to light.