Leo Gillick
A high-speed car chase, involving multiple vehicles and stop sticks, has resulted in the death of a police officer in Kansas City.
Videos by Rare
Police Chase: The chase began around 12.30 am when police responded to shots fired on Everett Avenue. Upon arrival, police found an unconscious man behind the wheel of a truck. As they approached him, he roused himself and decided to flee.
- The man was identified as Dennis Mitchell III, 31. He made a run for it in his original truck, speeding away while the police gave chase. However, he abandoned his first truck shortly after, picking up a new one.
- With the new vehicle, he managed to evade pursuing police, so police officer Hunter Simoncic decided to deploy stop sticks. However, this decision ended up being a fatal one.
Police Officer Killed: Rather than hit the stop sticks, Dennis swerved the truck into the police officer. Missing the tire-puncturing device, he plowed into the 26-year-old man. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Charges For Fleeing Man After Stop Sticks Fail
Eventually, Mitchell wrecked his second truck and was detained by police. He was taken to the same hospital as the police officer who had deployed the stop sticks and been killed. Shortly afterward, he was released and taken into custody. He is facing multiple charges.
- Capital murder.
- Fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer.
- Criminal possession of a weapon.
- Two counts of theft.
If found guilty, he’s facing serious time behind bars. The law doesn’t look kindly on people who kill police officers. He will also be tried for the trucks her was driving. It appeared that both of them had been stolen during the incident.
The department released a statement about the police officer.
- “While he grew up in a small town in southeast Kansas, he chose to serve our community because, in his words, ‘I want to take what I have learned in life to make positive changes in a community I believe truly deserves it.’ Let that sink in.”
