Two St. Louis brothers, Christopher and Jerry Tate, found themselves under arrest for robbery at gunpoint last year. The brothers maintained that they were the ones that had been robbed, and according to St. Louis Post-Dispatch, have recently been found to have been telling the truth the whole time.

A white man, Patrick John Owens, told police that the brothers attempted to rob him at gunpoint. Owens had claimed the two brothers approached him and picked a fight, punching and kicking him. He said that he fired his gun at the accused attackers, but he lost his gun in the encounter.

The Tates told officers that they were the ones who were robbed at gunpoint, and that they tried to defend themselves before running after Owens fired his gun.

Of course, the police immediately believed Owens.

“I believe they listened to him because he was white,” Christopher Tate said.

“They didn’t listen to us at all,” Jerry added.

The Tates found themselves not only in trouble with the law, but in their personal lives. The local news covered the story, and their coworkers and neighbors believed that they'd tried to rob someone.

“[My boss] asked me, ‘Why did the paper say you robbed someone and that’s how you got shot?’” Christopher said. “He said ‘If it wasn’t true the paper wouldn’t have said it.’”

Nearly half a year later, police reviewed surveillance video, proving that the culprit and victim were mixed up — it was in fact, Owens who had made the attempted robbery. Not only was Owens subsequently charged with attempted robbery, armed criminal action and second-degree assault (all felonies), but he was also charged for making a false report, which is a misdemeanor.

Photo: GIPHY

“At least the truth is out,” noted Jerry.

For the Tates, the most frustrating part of all of this is that the video wouldn't have been inspected if not for the persistence of the brothers' mom.

“My mother kept telling them that there was video all through that area,” Jerry said.

The video showed that Owens actually approached the two brothers after they exited their pickup truck, and asked them for a ride. Shortly after, Owens pulled out a gun and yelled, "Give me your wallet!" The brothers wrestled with Owens, and Owens fired, causing a bullet to hit Christopher's hand and ricochet into his face.

“I was on top of him when he shot me,” Christopher said. “When he fired the gun the bullet hit the bone in my hand. It went through my right jaw. If I had not put my hand out, it probably would have blown my entire face off.”

Responding police officers saw the Tates run off with the gun, and watched as they hid it in a flower pot. The Tates admitted that they ran off with the gun, and said they did so because they feared they would be made into targets.

“It is now clear that [the Tates] were telling the truth and that the defendant was lying to officers about what happened,” court documents filed this week read.

Owens' bail has been set at $250,000, and the Tates have been cleared of any and all wrongdoing.

Jerry Tate

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