Six people were taken to the hospital Sunday evening after being hit by a car outside a popular south St. Louis business with a history of nearby traffic incidents.
The crash happened in the parking lot of the Ted Drewes on Chippewa Street. The frozen custard stand was open for regular business, as was its Christmas tree lot. Both are near the busy “Candy Cane Lane” neighborhood holiday light display.
An off-duty police officer from a precinct outside St. Louis is critical condition but stable after he sustained a head injury, a St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson said during a press conference on Monday.
The 39-year-old officer tried to move people away from the car but was injured as the driver panicked and backed out of the parking lot, said the spokesperson, Mitch McCoy.
SLMPD reported Sunday night that none of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening. The 19-year-old driver, Rasool Al Janabi, initially left the scene after the crash, police said, but returned and was interviewed by detectives. A relative of the driver who was in the car corroborated the events.
On Monday, the St. Louis circuit attorney’s office charged Al Janabi with five counts of leaving the scene of an accident causing physical injury.
Traffic improvements have been proposed for the Chippewa Street location since 2022, when drivers struck and killed two pedestrians trying to cross the street in separate incidents. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported at the time that bollards would be installed soon and that Alderman Tom Oldenburg hoped to get a crosswalk and median installed “within six months.”
Both the mayor’s office and the police department said the project was paused due to shipping delays of materials needed for the improvements.
That fall, Mayor Tishaura Jones introduced a traffic calming plan tapping $40 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds that included improvements to the area. Jones signed the St. Louis Safer Streets bill in March 2023.
In this latest incident, the car struck people in the parking lot, not on the public street — and Jones released a statement afterward that detailed the pedestrian safety improvements scheduled for that stretch of Chippewa. Construction is set for January through March, to avoid interfering with the frozen custard stand’s busy season.
Improvements include:
- Moving the entrance of the parking lot.
- Building an accessible crossing point with a traffic signal.
- Improving lighting.
- Installing a camera that will be linked to city’s Real Time Crime Center.
- Adding traffic calming features including bump-outs with bollards and a fence to separate the parking lot from the pedestrian area.
A spokesperson for Jones said it was unclear whether the delayed traffic improvements would have prevented the incident.
On Monday morning, Ted Drewes released a statement expressing well wishes to those injured and thanking customers and first responders who helped at the scene.
This story has been updated.
