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The Walmart Licker’s Defense Written by DOYLE MURPHY

In the video that made him a pariah and got him arrested on a terrorism charJe, &ody Pfister does what is at least gross under normal circumstances and infuriating as more people die every day of COVID-19.

“Who’s afraid of the coronavirus?” the 26-year-old Warrenton man says teasingly while standing in an aisle of his hometown Walmart. “Don’t touch your face?” $nd then Pfister leans down and licks a row of deodorant sticks. The video that was posted to Facebook quickly spread across the world. Warrenton police would later say they were contacted by people from as far away as the Netherlands, Ireland and the United Kingdom. By the time police arrested him on March 23, both St. Louis County and city had issued stay-at-home orders, restaurant dining rooms were shut down and the first deaths were being reported in Missouri.

In short, even skeptics (not all of them) were beginning to see the danger at the door, and the siJht of Pfister’s dumE, mocking face enraged people who responded online with furious comments. %ut Pfister’s attorney Patrick Coyne says it’s important to consider the time when the video was recorded. In a probable cause statement, Warrenton police say it was March 11 and that the 8nited 6tates officially recognized COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 10.

Coyne says they’ve incorrectly swapped the dates. The World Health Organization’s pandemic declaration was on March 11, and Coyne says the video was actually from March 10.

At the time, St. Patrick’s Day parades were still planned, people were still going out to eat and even the loosest of restrictions on crowds in places like St. Louis were still days away. On March 9, NBA

Cody Pfister was arrested for licking items at Walmart. | COURTESY LINCOLN COUNTY SHERIFF

player Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz thought the growing coronavirus fear was funny enough that he made a point to touch every reporter’s microphone on his way out of a press conference. On March 10, President Trump told everyone to relax: “Just stay calm. It will go away.”

Coyne says the difference between March 10 and 11 changed everyone’s understanding of the virus’ spread — “Those” two days are gigantic ... ” — and that should be factored into whether Pfister’s actions are truly worthy of the felony charge of seconddeJree terrorist threat filed Ey prosecutors. It’s even more jarring when comparing March 10 to the time of his arrest, the attorney says.

“If it happened on the 22nd, I’m with everyone else on those comments,” Coyne says. “But if you put it in the perspective of the day he did it, it’s completely different.”

Pfister sSent three days in Warren County jail. By the time he bonded out, the fact that Gobert had tested positive for COVID-19 and the NBA had suspended its season had become just one tremor in a cascading disaster. By then, death threats were pouring in as the video and news stories about the incident continued to spread.

Actor and director Michael Rapaport, who has been wailing on Trump’s response to the coronavirus during his popular podcast, interYiewed Pfister durinJ an ,nstagram live broadcast.

“What the fuck made you lick the deodorant at Walmart?” Rapaport demanded.

Pfister e[Slained that he thouJht it would be more of an inside joke, pranking a friend who had been extremely worried about coronavirus. He let another friend post it to Facebook, he said.

“I was like, ‘I’m not even scared of it if it’s not a big deal, because the government’s not making it a EiJ deal,’ȋ Pfister told 5aSaSort. “The next day it was declared a pandemic. I was, ‘Holy shit, I might’ve did something really bad.’ A couple weeks later, yes, I was arrested and realized it was really bad.”

The 26-year-old was apologetic in the interview. He said he never meant it as a threat, adding that he has tested negative for COVID-19.

“I want to let everyone know I really am sorry,ȋ Pfister told 5apaport. “I didn’t know it was a big deal. Now that they started closing everything down, I realized this is really serious. I have older people in my family that I don’t want to get sick.”

Rapaport blasted him as a “dumb fuck” but ultimately concluded it was just a stupid move, especially given the timing.

“Everybody fucks up, you just fucked up on an international level,” the actor told him before wishing him well.

It’s not going to be so easy for Pfister JoinJ forward, thouJh. +e was on parole for a 2013 conviction for burglary and stealing a gun, and with the attention of his latest arrest, it wasn’t long before his Sarole officer wanted to talk to him. That led to a parole hold, and he’s now back in jail in Lincoln &ounty, officials there confirmed. Coyne says with courts largely shut down and cases delayed, it could Ee a lonJ time Eefore Pfister has an opportunity to go to trial.

“This guy is going to be sitting in jail for months, awaiting trial,” Coyne says.

In the interim, he has asked for bond in the Walmart case to be reYoked so Pfister will at least Jet credit for time served when his case finally Jets called. &oyne says he could see an argument for some kind of misdemeanor charge for peace disturbance or something, Eecause Pfister clearly messed uS, but the felony is overkill.

March 10, he says, was a different time for all of us:

“People were joking about it, the corona, drinking beers.” n

30 Sheriff’s Deputies Quarantined Written by DOYLE MURPHY

Two Ferguson-Florissant bus drivers died in one day. | PAUL SABLEMAN

Two Ferguson-Florissant School Bus Drivers Die

Written by DOYLE MURPHY

Two bus drivers in the Ferguson-Florissant School District died on Saturday, prompting school officials to stop delivering meals to kids, at least for now.

Both bus drivers had helped with the food distribution program. One of the drivers, who had been helping with the program at Cross Keys Middle School, died of a long-running illness but also had symptoms of the coronavirus, school officials say.

The second driver, who had tested positive for COVID-19, had helped with the distribution program that was based out of McCluer North High School. Another employee at the high school also tested positive, the district announced in a note on its website.

“None of the employees have worked since spring break and only learned of their positive results late [Saturday],” the district said in the written statement. “It has been more than 14 days since they worked, and anyone exposed would likely have experienced symptoms.”

As a precaution, the district is suspending the meals program through April 10. Schools across the country have struggled with the best ways to continue feeding kids who depended on school breakfasts and lunches. Throughout greater St. Louis, districts have set up drop-off locations, often using buses to deliver the food.

Ferguson-Florissant closed its schools on March 30 and expects to be out until late April, although the closures could be pushed back.

As of Monday morning, there had been 985 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and fourteen deaths in St. Louis County, according to the county’s health department.

ASt. Louis Sheriff’s deputy has tested positive for COVID-19, and now all 30 members of the infected person’s unit have been placed under quarantine.

“I am deeply concerned about this deputy, their family and the rest of my staff and their families,” St. Louis Sheriff Veron Betts said last week in a statement. “The unit and other staff members who may have come into contact are all under order to self-quarantine for the next two weeks.”

The deputy was part of the Outside Services Unit, which serves summonses and ex parte orders of protection, but those duties have been limited under new coronavirus-related restrictions. Since March 20, the unit has only been serving the ex parte orders of protection.

According to a news release from the sheriff’s office, the unnamed deputy did not work in the courthouse and there was only “minimal exposure to the buildings.” Any areas of the courthouse that might have been exposed are being sanitized, Betts says. The sheriff added that people should continue to keep

St. Louis Sheri Vernon Betts says a deputy has COVID-19. | COURTESY CITY OF ST. LOUIS

their space from others and wash their hands but the courthouses are safe.

Betts says they are following the advice of the city’s health department. The sheriff plans to shift deputies from other units to continue the work of their quarantined colleagues.

“The 6heriff’s 2ffice is on the front lines of this pandemic,” Betts said. “We have deputies out in the community serving court orders, working in area hospitals, handling prisoners and guarding the courthouses risking exposure every day. Thanks to the professionalism of my deputies, we are prepared to face this crisis.”

The St. Louis police department’s traffic diYision also had to self quarantine recently after at least one of its supervisors tested positive for COVID-19. n

St. Louis County Closes Public Parks

Written by

DOYLE MURPHY

Well, now outside is cancelled, too.

St. Louis County announced last week that all its public parks were closing until at least April 22.

“This will help us save lives. That’s our top priority,” County Executive Sam Page says in a news release. “I had hoped we could keep the parks open, but the spread of COVID-19 is too big of a threat to the health of our residents.”

The number of confirmed cases has continued to grow, and so has the death toll. As of Monday morning, 985 people had tested positive for the virus and fourteen had died in the county.

The county had already closed down playgrounds, basketball and tennis courts, indoor facilities and the Creve Coeur Soccer Complex. But after big crowds continued to pack the parks, public officials decided to shut it all down.

“With warmer weather, our parks are becoming more and more crowded,” county Parks Director Tom Ott says in the release. “During this health crisis, we cannot allow large groups of people to be together in one place.”

The city had announced earlier in the week it was closing roads in some parks as a way to discourage groups, but Mayor Lyda Krewson has suggested complete closures could be coming if people continue to bunch up in groups. As of press time, city parks were still open to the public.

So here’s a plea, don’t screw this up, people. Keep your space so we can still safely take a walk in the city’s parks. We don’t have much else these days. n