Police close investigation more than a month after Archie officer taken to hospital

Harrisonville police were investigating what appeared to be a possible assault against a police officer from a rural agency in south Cass County on May 25. Now, more than a month later, police are no longer investigating the incident as a criminal case and say it’s still unclear what happened.

The officer was identified by Harrisonville police as Kevin J. Pasteur, a police officer with the Archie police department.

Police said Pasteur was taken to an area hospital after he was found in his police vehicle in the early morning hours of May 25 in Harrisonville city limits. The officer was on duty at the time of the incident. Police investigating said Pasteur had no physical injuries, but said he “wasn’t acting normally” on the morning of May 25.

In a statement provided to the Cass County Democrat-Missourian on June 30, Harrisonville Police Department said it closed its investigation involving the Archie officer, and said it believed “no criminal conduct” occurred. An incident report released earlier in June to the newspaper indicated the case was initially being investigated as an assault against a law enforcement officer. Harrisonville police were assisted in the investigation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol and FBI.

“After the initial contact by Harrisonville police officers, the officer was transported to a metro hospital for further examination. At the hospital the Archie officer began exhibiting strange behavior and violent tendencies. Medical tests were conducted which did not reveal a cause for the behavior. As the investigation continued, concerns were raised that the officer may have been targeted or unknowingly ingested an unidentified type of synthetic substance,” the statement said.

“After extensively following up on numerous tips and possible leads, the Harrisonville Police Department can be reasonably certain that no criminal conduct occurred. The cause of the events and the officer’s behavior remain undetermined, but the Harrisonville Police Department can confirm that no criminal charges will be sought. There are still pending lab test results but no significant information is expected to be discovered.”

An incident report provided by the Harrisonville Police Department in June did not go into specifics, but it provided some details from the day of the incident.

According to the report, a 911 call led to a Harrisonville police officer being dispatched to a gas station near the intersection of North Commercial Street and West Mechanic Street to check on the well-being of a man inside a vehicle. The call came in to a dispatcher at 5:38 a.m. May 25. Police arrived at the scene within minutes. The gas station, identified in the report as the Wood Oil Company, is located at 150 S. Commercial St. in Harrisonville.

Harrisonville Police Officer James Totten wrote in the report that the man inside the vehicle was a police officer driving a police vehicle in the area. The report indicated the vehicle had a flat tire.

“...I received information, via radio dispatch, there was an Archie police vehicle driving around the area of Commercial and Mechanic,” Totten wrote. “Further information received was, the Archie police vehicle was driving on a bare wheel rim throwing sparks from the bare wheel while moving.”

Police said the man, later identified as Pasteur, was responsive to officers at the scene, and was taken to a hospital shortly after police arrived. Police left the scene after an hour.

Pasteur was released from the hospital earlier this month, police said Friday.

A spokesman for the Archie police department or Pasteur could not immediately be reached for comment by late Friday afternoon.