Fatality on I-435 before Chiefs Game
 

I heard Andy mention this in his press conference but hadn't seen any news about it. Apparently the wreck was caused by a cop. Man, and I'm sure the backup trying to get into the stadium from Johnson County was a mess. Story is here:

https://www.kansascity.com/news/loca...220422195.html

KCPD spokesman Capt. Lionel Colón describes a fatal crash involving a police vehicle on Interstate 435 ahead of Sunday night's Chiefs football game. One person died. Two were critically injured. The officer suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

By Joe Robertson

A fatal crash that blocked Chiefs game traffic on Interstate 435 Sunday afternoon started when an off-duty Kansas City police officer in a department van rear-ended another vehicle, police said.

“This is a tough one,” Kansas City police Capt. Lionel Colón said Sunday night, as he spoke about the multi-vehicle crash that left one person dead, two critically injured and the officer hospitalized with injuries that were not thought to be life-threatening.

“We hurt with you,” he said, speaking to families of the victims of the crash.

The crash happened shortly after 4 p.m. in the northbound lanes of I-435 just south of Stadium Drive.

Colón said the police van rear-ended a vehicle and then two other vehicles were also involved in the crash.

Traffic was quickly reduced to one lane, and then was completely shut down by 5 p.m. Traffic backed up for some three miles as Kansas City police crash specialists investigated the scene.

Colón said Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith “is shaken” to hear that an officer has been involved in a fatal crash. “We all are,” Colón said.

Late Sunday night, police released more details of the crash. The police van, a blue Ford E350, came upon slow traffic that was lining up on the way to Arrowhead Stadium. The van ran into the rear of a Maroon Mitsubishi Lancer, knocking it into a white Ford Edge, which was forced into a black Chevy Suburban.

The police van hit both the Mitsubishi and the Ford Edge before coming to rest to the north of all three other vehicles in the crash.

The driver of the Mitsubishi was pronounced dead at the scene. Two passengers in the front and rear of the car were hospitalized with life-threatening injuries. No one in the Ford Edge or the Suburban were seriously injured.

The name of the person killed in the crash had not yet been released Sunday night.

There was no indication in the preliminary investigation of the scene that any of the drivers in the crash were impaired.

The off-duty officer was on the way to Arrowhead Stadium, Colón said, but it was not known if he was going to work at the game or going as a spectator.

Many police staff are on-call and will use police vehicles while off-duty so that they can quickly respond if they are called into action, he said.

The highway remained shut down for most of three hours leading up to the game, which kicked off at 7:20 p.m. at Arrowhead.

Man, that's rough.

We got stuck in that. Delayed us almost an hour getting in to the stadium. The lancer looked like a crushed soda can. I'm surprised the other two passengers weren't killed at the scene. After witnessing that we were just happy we made it to the game alive.

My daughter says the driver that was killed is a Shawnee Mission South Senior. Chandan Rajanna was driving his father and sister to the game and they are in serious condition but Chandan was dead on the scene. My daughter had him in a couple of classes and said he was a really nice kid.

The school has grief counselors on site today. Very sad.

Has all the earmarks of an inattentive or distracted driver just flat killing someone. I mean he had to have not hardly braked at all to do that kind of damage.

It's....offputting....to hear the police chief talk about how shaken up they are that one of their own was involved. I dunno - maybe it's just me, but I watched the interview with that guy this morning (also after hearing Andy reference it) and read the quotes and it just reads to me as them being worried about their guy.

I mean...your guy probably killed someone by being careless. Yeah, I'm jumping the gun a bit here, but it's hard to just drive through the back of someone if you're at 10 and 2 with your eyes on the road.

I come in from the East (and usually pretty early) so I don't see those traffic jams, but man - that could have been anybody just sitting there waiting for a ballgame. Brutal stuff.

1) It’s a night game, and cops have some of the highest rates of substance abuse of any profession.

2) I hope the PD either field tested the cop or there is zero evidence of intoxication. Because if any comes out, it’s going to look like a Thin Blue Line situation.

I drive a big truck at work and get a birds eye view of all of the distracted driving going on. This is no surprise, but it is constantly going on and police officers are frequent offenders along with every other demographic.

this is exactly why im constantly looking behind me, i don't even know how many times me jumping onto the shoulder has saved me from getting rear ended

Riding the motorcycle kinda trained me to do that. I had to put the bike on a shoulder once and the dude rear-ended the guy I was sitting behind. Your situational awareness on a bike has to be so high that it just bleeds into your day to day driving.

I'm not gonna say the guy was drunk or looking up porn on his phone or anything. I can't get to any kind of clear gross negligence here (yet). But if nothing else, there's an exceptionally high likelihood that this man simply not paying attention led directly to someone's death. I really don't need to hear the police chief acting more concerned about circling the badge right now.

Maybe save that for a different interview...

**** man, that really sucks. A child no less..

That accident happened 10 minutes in front of me. It was horrific to see what had happened to that car. It was an absolute no doubter that the driver did not make it.

RIP

If the cop was at fault they will sweep it under the rug like they shot someone

situations where police make mistakes never get followed up on they only get buried

sad that this happened to such a young soul

If this was the kid of a politico everyone would be on trail like the maintenance men at schlitterbahn

I hope this guy loses his job.

It was an accident but cops need to be held to a higher standard. On and off duty. This idiot just killed someone. Damn.

driving a work van while off duty

your tax dollars at work

FWIW, the Officer hey interviewed said that this is common practice since the officer involved was on call. He said that they wouldn’t want him to drive his civilian vehicle while on call, in case he does have to respond to something.

Not sure if he was going to the game or not. If he was, then he probably shouldn’t attend the game while on call. How exactly would he get to a call on time from a packed stadium?

that makes sense, being oncall is basically being at work

Then his response time was extraordinary!

There had been no police report issued as of this morning:

https://www.kansascity.com/news/loca...221280545.html

Then a miracle happened - a few hours after this article was released, the KC Star got an incident report!

Funny how that works. KCPD is going to blue wall the hell out of this, man. What an awful, awful look...

Not sure I’m buying the representation that there was no evidence of driver impairment.

You mean a cop killed someone and is going to get away with it? That literally never happens.

I had him as a student in seventh grade. Shit sucks...

They're heroes! Even when they kill innocents it's heroic!

These are the accidents that really scare me. An innocent person just sitting in his car doing the right thing, and he got killed by someone else's screwup.

Yeah but it was a cop that killed him. So I'd lay off on the screw up stuff. These things happen and there's nothing we can do about it. Just hope that cop can get back out there and hero his ass off soon.

Back the blue, goes to far sometimes.

That car in the middle gets the worst of it. Some drunk driver in a Mustang hit my neighbor's Jeep Liberty parked in front of our place. Her car then hit my FJ Cruiser and launched it about 30 feet into a tree. The Jeep looked like an accordion.

The young man that was killed?:hmmm:

This accident is just wrong, sad.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/kc...ice/ar-BBPv62x

Speed blamed but 50-70 isn't a speed problem; it's an attention to the road problem. Driver of the van didn't get a statement (something tells me the police on the scene didn't press for one).

No evidence of alcohol - frankly that doesn't surprise me. I was never of the mind that the guy was out there driving hammered in a police van for an off-duty gig. It doesn't take much to presume that he was smarter than that.

But I'd damn sure like to know what he was doing. He clearly wasn't paying attention and the key question is why?

Yeah, I had another student from that year that emailed me about it Sunday Night. It was tough. I had talked to him at Roe Park about a month before.

Maybe I'm becoming cynical in my old(er) age, but drivers are paying less and less attention and I blame cell phones.

I try to never use mine while driving but rarely ride with anyone who isn't playing a song, looking at GPS, or texting/talking. Meanwhile every time I'm on the highway it feels like I spend the whole time avoiding people who are going dangerously slow, swerving into occupied lanes, or just acting like someone who has no clue what is going on around them. There is an accident EVERY DAY during my commute, and 5+ years ago that seemed to be limited to once or twice a week.

It's not you being cynical, it's the truth. It never fails, if I'm behind someone swerving, not maintaining speed, randomly braking for no apparent reason, they are ALWAYS ****ing with their phones. And besides the obvious danger involved, it plain makes me nervous following them because I know they're not paying attention.

And they're getting less selective about when and where they do it, rush hour on the freeway? Gotta get this text out! Pouring rain? Doesn't matter, this call is important! Hell we were following a semi truck on I-80 in western NE last weekend that kept creeping off the side of the road. When we finally passed him I looked up in his window and sure enough, he was looking down to his side. ARE YOU ****ING KIDDING ME, YOU'RE IN A ****ING 18 WHEELER. I should have had my phone ready and snapped a pic and sent it to the trucking company.

Shit is completely out of control.

One thing I haven't seen addressed is whether they checked his phone or phone records. Seems to me that should be the first thing they looked at. Not that we could count on them being honest about it.

Someone mentioned you being a lawyer, so perhaps you would know if it's possible for the family's lawyer or anyone else to subpoena his phone and records?

My condolences, I know it isn't family, but still a loss.


True. I had a young lady making a left turn while texting yesterday pull right in front of me. Glad I was paying attention, it was unbelievable.

With cops, it's not just their cell phones either. They are constantly on their laptops. I get that it might be pertinent to their job, but it doesn't make it any more responsible. Hell, the other day I watched a cop driving down a busy city street with a cell phone up to his ear with his left hand, and his right hand was typing away on his laptop. Use speakerphone, dick head.

They are highly trained professionals who... **** it, they are idiots when it comes to anything but the power of their jobs.

If you saw an Comcast driver doing the same thing you would be making calls and screaming bloody hell.

See the cop burn up his chase car in the "fails" thread? Idiots

Generally yes, those would be absolutely discoverable. There are always complications suing the police due to some immunity issues, but I don't see those being insurmountable.

If he was on his phone, it'll get out.

Highway Patrol are the elite and they start off at $42,000 a year. Police and sheriff deputies are much less than that. I don’t think they are getting to many scholars.

I say BULLSHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

KCMO:
Base pay, no experience or college ...Annual $43,404



http://kcmo.gov/police/careers-emplo...y-information/

OPKS same money
KS HIPO wages $42806 based on 40 hour weeks..

**** Tha Police! Am I doing it rite?

Big Gold.

FOS U R

don't they usually just murder people and then get suspended with pay?

also, anyone know what ever happened to this guy
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he probably got suspended with pay

I used to live close to there. Peculiar cops were worthless, they pulled anything over that moved past 9pm. Driving home from the local bar was a horror story.

I'd say he foumd work elsewhere... http://www.cityofpeculiar.com/pview....d=7202&catID=0

I remember the long version of the video showed a bunch of other cops showing up offering to straighten the handlebars and give him a band aid ROFL

FTR, I'm not that guy by any means. But they need to be subject to the same laws as they enforce and face the same consequences when they violate them as the general public does.

you mean the same laws and rules that government is supposed to follow but doesn't?

:popcorn:

They are the worse. Laws don’t apply to them. They enforce the laws, not follow the law. They are leaders not followers.

I can't see a way that a rear-end collision = death for the person hit without a high rate of speed.

And yes - law enforcement consistently breaks traffic laws in response...

Damage control in action...

Silence in these matters equals no good.

It’s not you man. This whole goddamn society has become super ADD and can’t focus on anything at all. The last 10-15 years have really catered to providing information quickly and easily, not just cell phones - but they’re the main driver. Phones have gotten so good at easily accessing information, along with Facebook twitter and wherever else that anytime we lose focus for just a second we can go off and get sidetracked.

And since we are stupid non-self aware children, we just allow ourselves to get consumed and get nothing done.

I’m not immune to it. But I’m self aware enough to know that it can become a problem and address it.

I'm not talking about law enforcement responding to an emergency. And even then, they can't drive recklessly.



This isn't what was going on here anyway.

I agree. I just have it when one cop screws it up for the rest of us...because now we are all dirtbags. I also hate it that people can't differentiate between the wo/man and the uniform.

That's because the rest of the cops and they union work to protect that dirtbag cop. Like DJ posted earlier, there wasn't even a police report on it available until the kcstar printed something
Posted via Mobile Device

I back the badge 9 times out of 10 - I ain't gonna do that job and someone needs to. The overwhelming majority of LEOs are there for the right reason and do an exceptional job of it.

But I do get frustrated as hell when otherwise good cops will bury their heads in the sand and/or actively hide malfeasance from one of their own.

It's the one thing that makes me take pause when I defend the law enforcement community writ large. There absolutely ARE times when they circle the wagons around a piece of shit exclusively because he's an officer and that's a black mark on the profession for sure.

Cops are second grade playground bullies with badges. Doesn’t take much to stay out of their way, obey their orders and always back the blue.

I know it's easy to think conspiracy, but sometimes those things take time. You want to get them right.

Oh yeah. Nailed it. :rolleyes:

See this is the point...you're not even involved and you're still trying to defend it. It should not take the KC star writing an article for a police report to be provided 2 weeks later. You think it would have taken that long if it was a civilian?
Posted via Mobile Device

In the past it was to arrest the first black guy who couldn't make bail or afford an attorney. When it's one of your own then you want to get the facts right?ROFLROFLROFLROFLROFLROFL


http://cdn.ebaumsworld.com/mediaFile...5/85151148.png

I'm not "defending it" rather offering a plausible explanation. I don't jump to conspiracy theory right away. I don't know much about KCMO PD but I doubt there is some next level LAPD dark ops shit. But I could be wrong, time will tell.

I don't understand the first part of your comment.

Just trying to sweep it under the thin blue rug.

Last time I went on the duck boats a retired police officer was driving.

LMAO

Just trying to get his kill count up?

Drive this thing to the Branson Great White tribute band. Shit is fire.

That has to beat the hell out of going on a police boat and there's a retired duck driving.

Dinny

Definitely be Fowl Play involved.

Zing

Better get AFLAC!

I’m not allowed to comment on duck boats. Some people get a little sensitive.

Cop is back on duty!

https://www.kansascity.com/news/loca...226514460.html

He killed a kid while not paying attention to the road.

Mother ****er. Back at work.


:facepalm:

I’m sure they field breathalyzed him and checked his phone logs to see if he was texting and driving.

Blue Wall of Silence FTW.

It's shit like this that creates animosity towards police....

Distracted driving and kills a guy. Get's a 4 month paid vacation w/ a lateral move.

Damn this one is frustrating - surely more will come out of this. They can't just say 'oops' and move along. There's no way this was just an excusable incident - you don't drive through the back of someone hard enough to kill an occupant of a modern vehicle if you're paying attention at all.

Seriously - the amount of energy vehicles made in the last 20 years can absorb is just remarkable. He had to blast that thing at essentially full speed to do the damage he did. He simply wasn't paying attention and because he's a police officer it appears likely that absolutely nothing will come of it.

Yep.

I happen to be in the middle on the whole "police" issue. I think some of the ire is misplaced or manufactured and that helps to overshadow (by hyper-politicizing) legitimate cases of police neglect or brutality.

In this climate, you have to dot EVERY I and EVERY T. There's just no excuse for this kind of thing to happen. You're trying to rebuild reputation in the community, for right or for wrong.

There's no doubt in my mind that had this been a normal citizen, they would have been immediately charged with motor vehicle homicide. Any level of distrust the public has for KCPD is now justified.

I have yet to even see a photo of the result of the accident. They sure are doing a good job of burying the facts on this one.

Just glad this hero is back out there protecting us again. Can't keep a good man down.