Man charged with Tower Grove Park violence makes court appearance

ST. LOUIS – A man accused of trying to kidnap women and later attacking people in Tower Grove Park made his first court appearance on Wednesday.

Austin Fitzgerald, 61, facing new charges of first-degree kidnapping and second-degree kidnapping stemming from an incident on Friday, Aug. 1.

"When officers arrived on scene, they located two females who were visibly shaken. They were distraught," Mitch McCoy, spokesman for the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, said.

Fitzgerald is accused of kidnapping two women at gunpoint. Allegedly, he forced one into his own vehicle with him and the other was told to follow them in her own car. Both were able to escape.

"Thankfully, they're going to be physically okay. Obviously, now it's going to be the trauma associated with that type of incident," McCoy said.

Police say a good Samaritan was recording the incident and that the victim was able to get into that person's car and get to safety.

"What you saw throughout some of this investigation is cooperation, including cooperation from the community, people who came to the rescue of someone in need of help," McCoy said.

The very next day, Saturday, police say Fitzgerald went back to Tower Grove Park and attacked people with brass knuckles at the Chinese Pavilion. People in the park again jumped in to help and tried to restrain Fitzgerald when he allegedly bit someone. He was eventually subdued by park rangers.

At Wednesday's hearing, a St. Louis Circuit Court judge ruled Johnson will remain jailed without bond until trial. Johnson has preliminary hearings for both cases on Sept. 5.