Seriously Injured Mo. Police Officer Headed to Rehab Hospital
ST. LOUIS — A Ferguson police officer injured months ago during a protest will be moved Tuesday to an out-of-state rehabilitation hospital.
Officer Travis “TJ” Brown will be taken from St. Louis University Hospital to Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield just before noon, said Ferguson police spokeswoman Patricia Washington.
Washington said Brown will be escorted by officers from across the region.
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She said she could not provide an update on Brown’s condition but said “he has made remarkable strides, according to his family.”
Brown was injured Aug. 9 when a protestor running from cops ran into him during a gathering on the 10th anniversary of Michael Brown’s death outside the Ferguson Police Department.
Surveillance video and body camera footage showed Brown being knocked to the ground by 28-year-old Elijah Gantt as he sprinted right at the officer.
Brown hit his head and suffered a severe brain injury. He did not regain consciousness in the months that followed. His family on Oct. 7 said he was in stable condition and was under close observation as doctors began to wean him from sedation.
It was unclear Monday whether Brown was still unconscious.
Gantt, the protestor, was arrested that night and has remained in jail on a $500,000 cash bond — a bond his attorney Ryan Krupp argued was unusually high for the charges.
He is charged with two counts of first-degree assault, resisting arrest, property damage and fourth-degree assault on a special victim.
Gantt has had few court appearances since his arrest. A heavily attended bond reduction hearing was set for Aug. 19, but his previous attorney waived that hearing after talking to Gantt in the courtroom.
Krupp used a status hearing last month to schedule a Dec. 12 bond reduction hearing.
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