St. Louis police officer hit by car on I-70 was shot two years ago in Ferguson

ST. LOUIS — A 31-year-old St. Louis officer who was struck by a car as he tried to jump over a highway median to arrest a suspect earlier this week had been shot years earlier during a chase in Ferguson.

Nathan Spiess was identified Wednesday as the officer whose leg was amputated following a chase on Interstate 70. He was resting after a successful surgery the day before, police said.

“We ask our community to continue to pray for our injured officer,” said police spokesman Mitch McCoy in a news release. “He has a long road to recovery ahead of him.”

Two men charged in the crash made their first appearances in court Wednesday afternoon. Both were ordered to be held without bond.

The incident began Monday when a Metro East auto crimes task force was in north St. Louis investigating a Toyota RAV4 that may have been carjacked from East St. Louis, police said.

Police spotted the car on Cote Brilliante Avenue where suspects got out of the Toyota and into an Acura that had been stolen from Belleville. Police tried to stop the Acura, but the driver sped off, eventually hitting spike strips before merging onto I-70 eastbound near Shreve Avenue, police said.

The driver, 18-year-old Mekhi Campbell, got out of the Acura and ran, charges say.

A back seat passenger also got out and jumped over the concrete median and into the express lane going toward downtown. Spiess followed, gun drawn, and was jumping the median when a black Cadillac struck him. The passenger, who was lying on the ground, was also hit, police said.

The Cadillac fled from the scene, police said. Its driver, Frank Carr, was arrested and charged with two counts of leaving the scene of an accident and tampering with physical evidence. Charges said he had towed his car to a body shop after the crash.

In court on Wednesday, prosecutors argued both Carr and Campbell should be held without bond.

“The amount of people (Campbell) could’ve killed that day, were quite frankly, countless,” said prosecutor Grant Simon.

Later, Simon added that it took “the community coming together” to find Carr after police released a photo of his vehicle.

But Bill Marsh, a contract lawyer who represented both Campbell and Carr during their bond hearings, said Campbell had no criminal history and Carr had a federal conviction from decades ago but has since been law-abiding.

Marsh said Carr was swerving to avoid the accident he saw and didn’t intend to hit anyone. He also said Carr approached police officers himself when he heard that they were looking for him.

“He understands that this is a tragic situation,” Marsh said. “This was not a situation where he willingly engaged.”

Simon, however, said there was suspected blood on Carr’s vehicle that was seized from the body shop, though future tests were needed to determine whether that was the case.

A couple hours after that hearing, police released Spiess’ name to the public.

In January 2022, he was one of two officers who were shot after chasing a Toyota 4Runner that they suspected was connected to a homicide from the city into Ferguson.

The 4Runner crashed, and multiple men with guns got out and shot at Spiess and his partner, Colin Ledbetter. Spiess and Ledbetter returned fire, and one of the men was killed.

Spiess was shot in the leg, and Ledbetter was critically injured, undergoing hours of emergency surgeries.

Police said this week that Spiess has nearly six years of service at the department.

Post-Dispatch reporter Dana Rieck contributed to this story.