Authorities found a white minivan involved in the crime by using video surveillance and license plate scanners. They found Ragain and Reed in the van, police say. The men face charges of “assault motivated by discrimination,” a third-degree felony.

The defendants could not be reached for comment.

Mission Gate Prison Ministry co-founder Trish Mathes said Reed called her after he and Ragain posted their $20,000 bail, and told her what happened. Reed was St. Louis program director for the ministry and Ragain was a program assistant.

“I, of course, was in shock, but my husband immediately said, ‘We need to let them go,’” Mathes said. Her husband, Rick Mathes, co-founded the prison ministry. “They resigned first.”

Trish Mathes said Reed and Ragain were the only two employees who had that level of responsibility, managing volunteers and other staff members. The St. Louis ministry works with 23 men and 10 women who recently were released from prison.

“I was very sad and shocked because they, up to that point, did such a fantastic job,” Mathes said about her former employees. “Everybody who knows them is in shock. Nobody would ever have expected this from them.”