The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office recently honored three local residents whose actions helped lead to the arrest of a woman who allegedly struck and killed a motorcycle rider.
Riley Wood, 27, of Arnold; Ashley Chapman, 28, of Byrnes Mill; and Vince Spinali, 28, of Cedar Hill received the citizen commendations, including miniature-replicas of Sheriff’s Office badges.
On June 22, Sheriff Dave Marshak recognized the three, who also will receive a gift certificate for a free dinner at Taytro’s Bar and Bistro in Festus.
“Citizen partnerships and help from the community are critical to our success,” Marshak said. “In this situation, they went beyond in a safe way to support our efforts. The reality is had we not located the driver as quickly as we did, there could have been some discrepancies in terms of who was actually driving the vehicle and that sort of thing. They are critical components to helping make this case.”
The trio was honored for their actions on May 20 following a fatal accident on the West Outer Road south of El Lago Drive between Arnold and Imperial. The three friends followed the 2019 Dodge Journey driven by Holly S. Smith, 50, of Barnhart after she allegedly hit and killed James A. Meyer Jr., 54, of Villa Ridge. While following the SUV, the three provided information that allowed Arnold Police to find and stop the SUV and Sheriff’s Office deputies to arrest Smith.
She has since been charged with driving while intoxicated causing the death of another, a class C felony punishable by three to 10 years; leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in a death, a class D felony punishable by up to seven years; and DWI, a class B misdemeanor that carries a penalty of six months in jail and a possible fine of up to $1,000.
Smith was released from jail on June 9 after posting a $50,000 surety-bond, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 1, according to court documents.
No lawyer is listed for Smith.
“I’m just glad she will be held accountable,” said Spinali, who was in the rear passenger seat of the car that followed Smith after the accident.
The accident occurred at about 7:15 p.m. May 20 when Smith reportedly failed to stop as traffic slowed on the West Outer Road and the SUV hit a 2000 Harley-Davidson Custom motorcycle ridden by Meyer. Then Smith fled the area, the Missouri State Highway Patrol reported.
Wood, who was driving a 2018 Ford Focus ST behind the Journey, said he saw the SUV drive over the motorcycle and Meyer. When he saw Smith reportedly drive away from the accident scene, he followed her and told Chapman, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, to call 911.
“I ride motorcycles, and I was like that is not OK,” Wood said. “I know too many people who have been in motorcycle accidents and the other driver drives away and you can’t do anything because the motorcycle is destroyed.”
The trio followed Smith as she reportedly drove into Arnold and then turned around and headed south before turning around again and heading back to Arnold. All the while, Wood continued to follow Smith as Chapman provided updates to a 911 dispatcher.
Arnold Police stopped the SUV on Jeffco Boulevard near Tall Oaks Lake Drive, and deputies arrested Smith, the Sheriff’s Office said.
“When the dispatcher got on the phone, I gave her a description of the car and license plate number,” Chapman said. “I then gave the dispatcher a play by play of where (Smith) was going. She was trying to evade us.
“I was surprised (the dispatcher) didn’t tell us to back off. She just asked where (Smith) was going next and to describe what kind of road she was on. I’m kind of bad with directions and not familiar with the area, so Riley was giving me the information to give to dispatch.”
Deputy Dustin Isenhart, who was part of the responding DWI unit, said Wood did everything right while following the SUV, while keeping a safe distance and not trying to approach the driver.
“What (Wood) did was huge,” Isenhart said. “He knew within himself to not place himself in harm’s way. I am impressed by his thought process and what he did.”
Meyer was taken by Rock Township Ambulance to Mercy Hospital South in south St. Louis County, where he was pronounced dead at 8:02 p.m., authorities reported.
Wood said he did not find out Meyer died until a couple of days after the accident.
“It was awful to hear,” he said. “A loss of life is always awful. You have to be glad someone stopped the person, so it is not someone getting away like nothing happened.”
The three said they are proud they helped law enforcement and are grateful to Marshak for recognizing their contributions.
“Good acts don’t get noticed enough. The bad stuff always gets the spotlight,” he said. “If you can help, help. There are a ton of good people in the world, and they are always willing to help.”