Lawsuit Filed After Deadly Police Pursuit

A lawsuit has been filed over a police pursuit that ended in a deadly suburban St. Louis crash.

Two daughters of 49-year-old Mikel Neil filed the wrongful death lawsuit Monday in St. Louis County Circuit Court. Neil and his passenger, 59-year-old Townsal Woolfolk, died in August when their fleeing car crashed into a tree.

The lawsuit names the county and two recently fired officers, Mark Jakob and Alex Maloy.

St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said they were terminated because they “misled” investigators and “discredited” themselves and the department by initially saying they never chased the car Neil was driving.

The St. Louis County Police Department prohibits chases unless a felony has been committed. The police union says the officers did nothing wrong.