Email To City Council Leads To Police Visit In University City

UNIVERSITY CITY, MO — Greg Pace, the retired University City engineer who spotted a multi-million dollar mistake in the city's numbers for a taxpayer-funded development on Olive Boulevard, was surprised to find two U. City police officers at his door Thursday evening. Pace says they wanted to know about an email he sent to city officials earlier that day.

The subject of Pace's email read: "Ms. Carr has a theory on the KKWD shootings…" and included a link to a Post-Dispatch article published that morning looking back at the 2008 Kirkwood City Hall shooting.

The email also included a short audio clip of U. City Councilmember Paulette Carr appearing to blame the Kirkwood City Council for the shooting, which left two police officers and four city officials dead, as well as a reporter injured.

"And again, I go back to the situation with Cookie Thornton, whether or not he was unstable…but the council was fairly repressive, and sometimes people get driven to things. I'd like to not be in that situation," Carr says in the audio clip, which was taken from a May 23, 2016 study session.

Carr was discussing the removal of U. City resident Andrew Roberts by police from a January 2016 council meeting, but another controversy is currently flaring passions in University City, and it seems somehow Pace's email may have been taken as a threat.

"I did not threaten her or anyone else," Pace said, adding that he was "embarrassed" by Carr's comments at the time and the Post-Dispatch article simply reminded him of them.

Pace said the police officers who visited his home were cordial and that he asked them in to discuss the matter. One had a print out of his email in hand, but he said they hadn't listened to the attached audio. He played it for them.

"I told them the article in STL Today remembering the Kirkwood City Hall massacre triggered my email," Pace said. "I wanted folks to know the character of Councilmember Carr."

Pace said there was nothing threatening in the email and that he doesn’t know why the police showed up at his door. Indeed, besides the audio clip and the link, the only text in the body of the email was "P-D remembers" and "Ms. Carr, in her capacity as a U. City councilperson, weighs in (attached)."

He called the incident disturbing, adding that it left his wife shaken.

"The email I sent is constitutionally protected political speech," Pace said in an email to city attorney John Mulligan. "I did not shout FIRE in a crowded theater. I did not threaten anyone. It is possible that the chief initiated this 'investigation' on his own. I did blind copy him on the email. He is required to live in U. City by the charter (unless he received a waiver from Lehman) so I assume he is a fellow citizen. I sent the email to many citizens.

"Or maybe [City Manager Gregory] Rose told him to check it out. Or maybe a complaint was filed. I don't know. What I do know is that a serious review of my email should have ended the investigation. A visit to my home should not have happened. I recently uncovered a major error in the TIF revenue projections. Did I embarrass the city? Are they trying to intimidate me? These are legitimate questions."

Police Chief Larry Hampton told Patch that there is no investigation of Pace.

"Mr. Pace sent an email to a wide range of University City officials including myself," Hampton said in an email. "It was unclear of Mr. Pace's intention(s) with the subject matter (ie. threat or inappropriate intent); therefore, I directed a UCPD investigator to pay a courtesy visit to Mr. Pace to clarify his intentions.

"During this climate in America, Law Enforcement Officials cannot be stagnant in determining potential threats. During UCPD's visit, Mr. Pace explained his intentions to be harmless and he apologized for the confusion. UCPD did not coerce, threat[en] or mistreat Mr. Pace while inside his home having a conversation about the email."

Patch has also reached out to Councilmember Carr for comment. This story will be updated when we hear back.

This story has been updated with a comment from University Police Chief Larry Hampton.

Photo by J. Ryne Danielson/Patch