Three St. Louis police officers were charged on Thursday with beating up an apparent protester who turned out to be an undercover detective on their own team, the authorities said.

The officers were accused of attacking their own colleague during a September 2017 protest in response to the acquittal of Jason Stockley, a white police officer who killed a 24-year-old black man, Anthony Lamar Smith, after a high-speed chase. According to the federal grand jury indictment, the officers threw the detective to the ground, hitting and kicking him while using a riot baton.

Prosecutors obtained an indictment against a fourth officer on charges that she conspired to help the three cover up the beating.

The three officers accused of participating in the beating were charged with violating the constitutional rights of the detective, who the indictment identified only with the initials L.H. The indictment, submitted by the United States Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Missouri, said the officers used unreasonable force on the detective while he was not posing any threat.

The officers involved in the alleged beating were identified as Dustin Boone, 35; Randy Hays, 31; and Christopher Myers, 27.

Mr. Stockley, a former St. Louis police officer, was acquitted of first-degree murder on Sept. 15, 2017, prompting weeks of protests in the city.

The indictment includes messages sent among the officers during the days before and after the acquittal in which they express excitement about the possibility of using force against protesters.

“A lot of cops gettin hurt, but it’s still a blast beating people that deserve it,” read a message from Officer Boone that was included in the indictment. It was dated Sept. 17, the night that prosecutors say the beating occurred.

The three officers were also charged with obstructing justice by engaging in “misleading conduct toward witnesses,” the indictment said. Officer Myers was charged with destruction of evidence for destroying the detective’s cellphone in an effort to influence the federal investigation.

The fourth officer, Bailey Colletta, 25, who was accused of impeding the investigation, was in a romantic relationship with Officer Hays at the time of the protests, according to the indictment. Prosecutors said Officer Colletta provided false and misleading testimony to the grand jury, including a statement that the detective was “brought to the ground very gently.”

Lawyers for Officers Hays and Colletta declined to comment, while lawyers for the other two officers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday evening.

The officers are being provided legal representation by the St. Louis Police Officers’ Association, Jeff Roorda, the organization’s business manager, said in a statement. He urged the public to “allow them their day in court without speculation about their guilt or innocence.”

The charge of violating a person’s constitutional rights carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, the indictment said. The charges involving obstruction of justice and evidence destruction each carry up to 20 years in prison.

Col. John W. Hayden Jr., chief of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department, said in a statement that all four of the officers were placed on administrative leave without pay. He said he was “deeply disappointed” with their alleged behavior.

The indictment said that the three officers accused of beating up their colleague were assigned to a team of more than 200 officers who were tasked with monitoring the protests, controlling the crowds and making arrests. On the night of Mr. Stockley’s acquittal, about 1,000 protesters marched through the streets and more than a dozen people were arrested.

The undercover detective, who had been on the police force for 22 years at the time of the protests, had been tasked with documenting criminal activity at the protests to facilitate arrests. The indictment said the detective wore a shirt to the protest that revealed his waistband so he would not be mistaken for carrying a weapon.

According to the police chief’s statement, Officer Hays has been on the force for eight years, while the three other indicted officers have each been employed for three years or less.

Follow Julia Jacobs on Twitter: @juliarebeccaj.

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