I hadn’t paid a lot of attention, until yesterday, to the story out of St. Louis about the wacky couple who emerged from their castle — that’s right, castle — and waved guns at a group of protesters who entered a private street while on their way to the St. Louis mayor’s home on June 28.
Let’s just start with this picture…
There they are, personal injury attorneys Patricia and Mark McCloskey, looking like a latter-day, better-dressed Bonnie and Clyde…except they aren’t into robbing banks; they just want to scare the crap out of people who come anywhere close to their property.
Now, the protesters were never on McCloskey property, and they were never threatening in any manner. They were passing by after entering a gate that gave them access to a private street leading to Mayor Lyda Krewson in St. Louis’ very upscale Central West End.
The McCloskeys’ harassment and implied threat lasted 13 minutes.
Video of the incident shows Clyde (Mark) under a massive portico on the east side of his mansion, yelling, “Hey! Private neighborhood! Get the hell out of my neighborhood!”
“Put that gun away,” someone is heard yelling back.
Waving a silver pistol, Bonnie (Patricia) yells, “Go! Go!” and tries to shoo the protesters away like they’re stray dogs.
On Monday, St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner charged the McCloskeys with a felony count of unlawful use of a weapon/flousishing.
Conviction carries a sentence of up to four years in prison or a fine and no prison time. Gardner, however, is recommending the McCloskeys participate in a diversion program.
“It is illegal to wave weapons in a threatening manner at those participating in nonviolent protest,” Gardner said, “and while we are fortunate this situation did not escalate into deadly force, this type of conduct is unacceptable in St. Louis.”
Unacceptable? Euphemistic but, yes, accurate.
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Here’s another photo that says something about this couple…
That’s the place the McCloskeys acquired in 1988, described by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as “a castle built for Adolphus Busch’s daughter and her husband during St. Louis’ brief run as a world-class city in the early 20th century.”
That’s Busch, as in Anheuser-Busch.
And what kind of people are the McCloskeys?
Well, a Post-Dispatch reporter named Jeremy Kohler wrote a recent profile that paints them as paranoid and litigious.
Kohler’s story started like this…
“When Black Lives Matter protesters marched up Kingshighway on June 28 and turned through an iron gate into the magnificent private street of Portland Place, they encountered a couple who have for years, nearly constantly, sued other people and ordered people off their property.”
Naturally, Bonnie and Clyde wouldn’t talk to Kohler (nor would their attorney), but the reporter was able to learn a lot about them from public records, including a large number of lawsuits the perpetually aggrieved couple has filed over the years.
Those records, Kohler wrote, reveal that the McCloskeys “are almost always in conflict with others, typically over control of private property, what people can do on that property, and whose job it is to make sure they do it.”
Among other things, the McCloskeys have sued people who live near property they own in Franklin County for making changes to a gravel road.
But here’s the kicker…”Mark McCloskey sued a former employer for wrongful termination and his sister, father and his father’s caretaker for defamation.”
Now, when you see a father suing a son, or vice versa, the first word that comes to mind is dysfunction.
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The address of the McCloskey castle is 1 Portland Place.
Tom Stites, a former editor at The Star, wrote on the Kansas City Star Bylines Facebook page that the equivalent of 1 Portland Place in Kansas City would be the Robb mansion (some say Kansas City’s only true mansion) on the southwest corner of 55th and Ward Parkway.
Coincidentally, the owners, Gary and Anita Robb, are personal injury lawyers. (To show you the kind of cases the Robbs get involved in, Gary Robb is one of the attorneys representing Vanessa Bryant in a wrongful death lawsuit stemming from the death of her husband, former NBA star Kobe Bryant, in a helicopter crash in January.)
Gary and Anita Robb
One of the differences between the Robbs and the McCloskeys is that the Robbs’ home is completely surrounded by a six-foot-tall, wrought-iron fence. Another is that, to the best of my knowledge, Gary Robb has never sued his father or any other family members.
Somehow, as I try to transfer the bizarre St. Louis scene to 55th and Ward Parkway, I have a hard time envisioning Gary and Anita emerging from their mansion, toting guns and threatening protesters parading along Ward Parkway.
I’ll take the Kansas City Robbs over the St. Louis McCloskeys any day.
The Robb mansion
Jim, I heard that Gov. Parson intends to pardon McCloskey’s if they get convicted.
That’s a funny (sort of) aspect of this story, Gloria. Parson told reporters last week the unlawful-use-of-weapon statute didn’t apply because of the Castle Doctrine, which which gives homeowners more leeway to shoot people on their property. and, yes, he said he probably would pardon them if convicted.
How fitting — the Castle Doctrine. I guess it was created expressly for people living in castles.
…Seriously, though, the McCloskeys would be much better off accepting Kim Gardner’s offer of a diversion program as an alternative to fighting a formal charge and exposing themselves to the risk of conviction, even if a pardon was forthcoming.
But as goofy as these people are, it wouldn’t surprise me if they went to war with Gardner.
The Mob was up on their property, threatening them. They were scared for their lives. If this happened to you, what would you do? They were within their legal rights to protect themselves and their property. They may be goofy as you say, I don’t know and I don’t care. I think the Mob needs to be stopped and private citizens should be kept safe. I am sure you would want your family safe.
Mob with a capital “M,” huh? That must be a Huuuuge one…Or maybe you’re talking about the Mafia.
Jim, I haven’t seen the probable cause statements for the charges but I’d like to point out the protesters did forcibly break the gate into a gated community. The residents expect a certain level of privacy. The protesters may have peaceful as the walked by the house but someone committed property damage to go by the house on the way to the mayor s house.
It’s not an established fact that they broke the gate, Bill…The McCloskeys accused demonstrators of ignoring “No Trespassing” signs and knocking down the gate, but one of the protest leaders said the gate was already open and that no protesters damaged it. I saw video also that showed the gate was rusted and in very poor condition. So who knows?
The protesters did enter private property; I’m not disputing that. The McCloskeys’ overreaction, however, trumped any violation the protesters might have been guilty of.
Jim this was 2 blocks from my house when you stopped by a few years ago. What’s lost in this discussion is the overall demographics of the neighborhood is about $44k median income. It’s been gay and multiracial friendly since the 1950s. I could go on. Yes there are some assholes who live in the neighborhood, but they aren’t representative.
First off, Fitz, these are/were your people. They’re liberal Democrats and of course they sue people, they’re lawyers. In fact they’ve represented Plaintiffs alleging police brutality. As for the gate, people who live in houses like that do not have gates that are rusted and in very poor condition. Google the images. The real gate was trashed by the mob that invaded the neighborhood.
As for the ditzy prosecutor, again, Google her name. This is not the first time this whack job has gone off the deep end protecting criminals and using her office to score political points for the loony left.
And Kim can take her diversion agreement and stuff it. Everyone knows that all sh’es doing is trying to intimidate honest home owners and protect her criminal pals. The Missouri Attorney General has already submitted an Amicus Brief on behalf of the couple and both President Trump and Governor Parsons has indicated that they’ll pardon the couple should they be convicted.
If anything comes out of this, it is yet another black eye for these corrupt big city Democrat regimes and if the citizens of St. Louis are lucky, Kim Gardner will be disbarred.
It’s too bad that all of the parties involved can’t just sit down, have a beer – a Busch beer, of course – and work out their differences by having a civil discussion among themselves. Hey, where’s former President Bush when you really need him?
Good comment, Rick Nichols!
Jim, are you sure posting the pic of the Robbs house and address were ok with them?
“…Kansas City’s only true mansion.” What about the Russell Stover house? As memory serves, that was pretty impressive.
Hello from Crazytown..home of fox news darlings the McCloskey’s.
How did all this go off the rails so quickly?!
The McCloskey’s live in an area of town where the homes were built during or just after the 1904 Worlds Fair. All of these homes not some all are multi million dollar renovations. The McCloskey’s “home” is no exception. That being said they are way out of bounds in their response.
No one in this town would say that these lawyers are going to appear in the top 100 lawyers in town maybe not the top 1000, does the term “ambulance chaser” ring a bell or nuance law suits. Both of the McCloskey’s hold law licenses in Missouri and have used them to enrich themselves at others expense. The Post Dispatch did an in depth story on Sunday, July 12th by Jeremy Kohler on the litigation history of the McCloskey’s. They’ve filed lawsuits against everyone from family members to neighbors over trivial complaints to claiming family holdings. The one that struck me most was the time when Mr. McCloskey torn down a bee hive that had been constructed by the school near his residence. His claim was that it was on his property and that if they didn’t clean up the mess, which he caused, he would file suit.
I’ve dealt with the McCloskey’s in a courtroom setting (25 years as a city sheriff working in the courtrooms) neither of them as the lead attorney they had joined in law suits to enrich themselves. Both are as you would expect arrogant to the point of wanting to just walk away which is what they want. To them it’s all about the money and how to get it.
I have also dealt with the circuit attorney, Kimberly Gardner, when she was an associate circuit attorney handling criminal cases. Not a fan. She was ill prepared for her assigned cases and would regularly ask for continuances. Her winning percentage in the office was below normal. She left the office after a couple of years and went into private practice. Her filing of the charges against the McCloskey’s is a waste of time and money, she’s playing a losing hand. Her real reason for the charges are that she is playing to her base in an election year.
The McCloskey’s first hired a local headline grabbing attorney, Al Watkins, to represent them. Mr. Watkins is cut from the same cloth. His appearance on the news circuit was pretty much what you get, all talk no substance. He’s out and the McCloskey’s have hired Joel Schwartz a high profile defense attorney here in the region, Gardner will be out classed in dealing with Mr. Schwartz. Mr. Schwartz represented the husband of the victim in the Happ shit circus, you saw that ended up.
Portland Place is a private street. That being said it means that the city does not have to maintain the area, it is handled by the residents and their board of directors. It doesn’t mean you can’t go in and drive/walk around and enjoy the area and what is has offer. There are many other ways to get into the area from side streets. The whole gate thing is a interesting question. Pictures show the gate in good shape and another shows it bent and out of place, no time and date signatures on either picture.
Attorney General Schmitt has no legal standing in this law suit again grandstanding in an election year.
Parsons’ also is grandstanding. He is a pretty good tap dancer tho.
When does BASEBALL and HOCKEY start?!
Many thanks to, Gus, our St. Louis correspondent…although it’s been so long since he filed, I thought I’d lost him.
Good to see him back and in fighting form.
I wish a sheriff’s deputy had been around that day to calm down the crazy McCloskeys!
Very informative. it’s always nice to be able to get something this credible on an issue like this.