KANSAS CITY —There is a police vehicle serving as a memorial in front of police headquarters in Kansas City in honor of Officer James Muhlbauer and K-9 Officer Champ who died in a crash on Wednesday night.
A Kansas teen has been charged in connection with the crash on Wednesday night that took the life of a Kansas City patrol officer, a pedestrian and the officer's K-9 Champ, according to Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker.
Jerron Allen Lightfoot, 18, Tonganoxie, faces two counts of Involuntary Manslaughter 1st Degree.
According to court records filed Thursday evening, Kansas City police officers responded to East Truman Road and Benton Blvd. on a vehicular crash.
Arriving officers saw a man standing by a white Ford Fusion, one of the crashed vehicles. The man was later identified as Jerron Allen Lightfoot, the driver and sole occupant of the white Ford vehicle.
The other vehicle in the crash was a marked police car. The police officer, James M. Muhlbauer, was in the driver's seat, unconscious. He was wearing a seatbelt. The police K-9 Champ was deceased in the back second row of the police car. The officer was transported to an area hospital and later pronounced deceased. Police found a second deceased man under the police vehicle.
Video from the area of the crash, according to court records, showed the police officer was traveling eastbound at E. Truman Road and had a green light at the intersection. The white Ford was traveling southbound on Benton Boulevard at a high rate of speed and failed to stop at the traffic signal just prior to striking the police vehicle.
In addition, the police officer's dash cam showed he had a green light as he went through the intersection just prior to the crash.
Lightfoot told officers he tried to stop but his car's brakes did not work, prosecutors said. Lightfoot said he felt “a lot of vibration” when he applied the brakes.
A check of the white Ford's electronic ACM system showed the vehicle's brakes were working just prior to the crash and the vehicle was traveling at 85 mph or more just before impact.
Muhlbauer, who was married and a father, was a 20-year veteran of the force. Champ had been a K-9 with the force for a year.
In 2014, Muhlbauer arrested Brandon Howell, a suspect in the deaths of five people in a Kansas City neighborhood, said Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker. Howell, who previously was acquitted in the killings of two Kansas teens, is serving multiple life terms, with no chance of parole, in the quintuple homicide.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker issued the following statement:
"My office spoke Thursday evening with the family of our officer victim. We have not yet been able to meet with the family of our pedestrian victim prior to this filing, but we will meet soon with that victim's family. We extend our condolences to both grieving families and the police department. We are grateful for the pace of the police department's investigative work that allowed us to file these charges so quickly."
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KANSAS CITY —A Kansas City police officer, his K-9 partner and a pedestrian died in a crash Wednesday night.
Just after 10:15p.m., the officer identified as James Muhlbauer and his K9 officer Champ were on duty and on patrol in the area of Truman Road and Benton Boulevard when the patrol car was struck by another vehicle. The collision caused a secondary impact with a pedestrian.
The pedestrian and K-9 officer Champ was declared deceased at the scene, according to the release. EMS transported Muhlbauer to the hospital with critical injuries and he died.
The driver of the citizen vehicle has minor injuries and is in custody for further investigation
Muhlbauer is 20-year veteran of the KCPD and had been assigned to the K-9 Unit for nearly 3-years. His K9 partner was an approximately 1-year veteran of the KCPD. K-9 Champ lived with Muhlbauer and his family. Mulhbauer was married and a father.