19-year-old charged with striking pedestrians at Ted Drewes

ST. LOUIS – The man accused of striking multiple pedestrians at Ted Drewes Sunday night has been charged. See the live video here.

The St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office charged Rasool Al Janabi, 19, with five counts of leaving the scene of an accident causing physical injury. Online court records do not provide bond information or say when Al Janabi will appear in court.

Mitch McCoy, spokesman for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, said the crash happened around 8 p.m. in the Ted Drewes parking lot.

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Police arrived to find a 21-year-old woman, a 17-year-old boy, a 55-year-old man, a 39-year-old man, and a 12-year-old girl had been injured and taken to the hospital. An 82-year-old man was also injured.

According to investigators, Al Janabi was traveling westbound on Chippewa when his vehicle swerved and crashed into the metal barriers along the parking lot at Ted Drewes, striking five people. Al Janabi injured a sixth person while backing his vehicle up.

The entire incident happened in a matter of seconds, police said.

Police said Al Janabi initially fled and went home, but he returned to the scene with a family member and was taken into custody.

During a Monday afternoon news conference at St. Louis City Hall, McCoy said Al Janabi told police that he swerved to avoid something in the road. After the crash, the 19-year-old said he panicked when a large crowd of people surrounded his vehicle.

McCoy said the 39-year-old pedestrian injured in the crash was an off-duty officer from another jurisdiction. The officer was attempting to move the crowd away from Al Janabi’s vehicle when he, too, was injured.

McCoy said a relative was in the car with Al Janabi at the time of the crash. They returned to the scene with the 19-year-old and are cooperating with investigators.

Al Janabi did not appear to be speeding and was not under the influence, McCoy said.

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“This was something – he was trying to avoid something in the road and he overcorrected. This is not something that could have been prevented. At least that’s what the investigation is showing us right now,” he said.

While fielding questions at the news conference, McCoy said Al Janabi was avoiding a car when he swerved. That is also part of the investigation.

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