ST. LOUIS — A police officer underwent a partial leg amputation after he was hit by a car Monday on Interstate 70, according to charges filed in the case.

A St. Louis police officer stands outside the emergency room at Barnes-Jewish Hospital on Monday, March 17, 2025, where he and colleagues gathered after an officer was struck and critically injured on Interstate 70.
Mekhi Campbell, 18, was charged with first-degree assault on a police officer, armed criminal action and aggravated fleeing. He was denied bond on Tuesday.
Police say Campbell was driving a stolen Acura with two passengers when police chased him onto the highway, and he crashed into an uninvolved car. Campbell ran from the scene but was chased down and arrested, police said Monday.

Mekhi Campbell
The passenger in the Acura’s backseat stayed in the car and was also arrested.
Campbell’s front seat passenger also ran from police after the crash, and seconds later he was hit by a car in the I-70 express lanes near Shreve Avenue. The officer who was holding that person at gunpoint to arrest him was also hit by the car.
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Campbell’s charging documents said the injured arrestee is still in critical condition. The documents also said the officer had to have his leg partially amputated.
The two passengers — the one who was injured and the one who remained in the Acura — had not yet been identified as of Tuesday afternoon.
Frank Carr, 62, whose Cadillac police say struck the officer and the arrestee, was charged with tampering with evidence and two counts of leaving the scene of an accident, causing serious injuries.
Carr was also denied bond Tuesday.
“It is our intent to prosecute these cases to the fullest extent of the law,†St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gabe Gore told reporters on Tuesday during a press conference at police headquarters.

Frank Carr
The court documents say the crash was captured on multiple cameras. Police say they identified Carr’s license plate in a video sent into police after they asked for the public’s help.
“The community was outstanding in stepping forward and providing tips,†St. Louis police Chief Robert Tracy said during Tuesday’s press conference. “Within a couple of minutes of posting the photos, we got tips. We located the vehicle a couple of hours later.â€
Carr admitted to officers he was the driver in the crash when he was arrested, police wrote in charging documents. He told them he towed his car to a body shop after the accident.
Police said the officer was holding the arrestee at gunpoint at about 8:45 a.m. while he jumped over a concrete median to arrest the carjacking suspect in the express lanes of the highway when Carr hit both men with his car.
Unable to move after he was struck, the officer fired safety shots so that other cops could find him, Tracy said Monday.
On Tuesday afternoon, Tracy said the officer was undergoing a second surgery. The 31-year-old officer has worked for the department for six years and was injured in the line of duty a few years ago, although Tracy said he was not providing information on that incident in order to protect the officer’s privacy for now.
“He is still considered to be in critical condition,†the chief said. “And as I mentioned, he has a very long road to recovery.â€
The incident began when the Metro East Auto Theft Task Force was investigating Monday morning in north St. Louis after a Toyota Rav4 was carjacked from East St Louis. The SUV was spotted in the 4800 block of Cote Brilliante Avenue, the chief said. Officers saw the suspects get out of that car and enter an Acura that had been reported stolen from Belleville.
Officers chased the Acura and eventually it drove onto eastbound I-70 from northbound Kingshighway, Tracy said. But the Acura had hit police spike strips before getting on the highway, and it lost control and struck an uninvolved car just before Shreve Avenue, Tracy said.
It’s the second time in six months that a St. Louis police officer has been struck on the busy interstate in north St. Louis.
David Lee, an 18-year veteran of the department, was hit near Grand Avenue on Sept. 22 and later died in surgery.
Lee was at a one-car crash when he was behind his patrol car retrieving traffic cones. The driver of another car, traveling east, lost control, spun out and ran into him.
On Tuesday, Tracy noted a bill had been introduced in the Missouri House that would rename that stretch of I-70 to “Police Officer David Lee Memorial Highway.†The stretch runs from Carrie Avenue eastward to Adelaide Avenue.

A St. Louis police officer walks past evidence markers in the express lane of Interstate 70 at Shreve Avenue on Monday March 17, 2025, where a St. Louis police officer was struck and critically injured.

St. Louis police Chief Robert Tracy, center, is briefed Monday March 17, 2025, on the shoulder of the eastbound lane of Interstate 70 on after a St. Louis police officer was struck and critically injured there.

St. Louis Police Chief Robert Tracy, bottom center, is briefed on the eastbound lane of Interstate 70 on Monday March 17, 2025, after a St. Louis police officer was struck and critically injured.

An accident reconstruction technician works the scene in the eastbound lane of Interstate 70 at Shreve Avenue on Monday March 17, 2025, after a St. Louis police officer was struck and critically injured.

St. Louis police officers gather outside the emergency room at Barnes-Jewish Hospital on Monday, March 17, 2025, after an officer was struck and critically injured on Interstate 70.