LEBANON, Mo. (KOLR) — A man from Maine has been charged after telling law enforcement he intentionally hit a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper days after his brother was killed by police.
According to court documents, 27-year-old Galen B. Sailer has been charged with first-degree assault, armed criminal action and leaving the scene of an accident.
Trooper Cory Stauffer was struck Wednesday by a silver Honda Fit on I-44 near Lebanon, Missouri.
Stauffer reported that he was checking on a stranded motorist when Sailer passed him driving over the speed limit. The trooper pulled Sailer over in a Waffle House parking lot in Lebanon, according to a probable cause statement from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
During the stop, the driver told Stauffer his brother had been killed by a police officer, according to the statement.
Stauffer said he thought the driver, who began rolling up his window, was about to flee and he started to return to his patrol car.
Stauffer said the suspects’ vehicle circled around, began moving towards him and struck him on the front passenger side of the vehicle. He said the car then continued forward, dragging him and subsequently pinning him against a steel pillar in the parking lot, according to the statement.
Stauffer called for backup after he was hit by the Honda, which fled behind a nearby motel, according to the statement. Stauffer was taken to a hospital in Springfield with a fractured pubic bone.
According to court documents, officers with the Lebanon Police Department found the Honda near a truck stop, and the driver, Sailer, was arrested.
During a police interview, Sailer admitted to intentionally hitting Stauffer.
According to the Highway Patrol, authorities found audio in Sailer’s car from an in-car mounted camera. It recorded Sailer contacting people whom authorities believe to be his parents saying he had just hit an officer.
Highway Patrol said that on Tuesday, the Mesa, Arizona, Police Department issued a situational awareness bulletin about Sailer, stating that he made statements to family members threatening to kill police in retaliation for the Sunday police killing of his younger brother.
