KC man pleads guilty in fatal 2021 hit-and-run outside Chiefs game at Arrowhead Stadium
A Kansas City man pleaded guilty Thursday for his role in a fatal hit-and-run that killed a Wichita man outside a Chiefs game in 2021.
Steve Hickle, 66, of Wichita, was struck and run over by three cars outside GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium during a Chiefs game in 2021.
Thomas Weyer, 21, pleaded guilty Thursday to fleeing the scene of a fatal accident, a Class D felony. It came as part of a plea deal which will result in Weyer serving four years in prison. The maximum sentence for fleeing the scene can be up to seven years in prison.
As the Chiefs played the Buffalo Bills that day, Hickle and his wife Laurie, avid Chiefs fans and season ticket holders, left the stadium during a rain delay, The Star previously reported. Traffic crews were not yet outside the stadium helping pedestrians, since the game was still going, The Star reported.
While attempting to cross a packed Blue Ridge Boulevard near Gate 2 of the stadium, Hickle was hit by a truck and thrown into the next lane of traffic, according to court documents. Hickle was run over by two cars in succession, including an SUV driven by Weyer, court documents show. Hickle died the same day in a local hospital.
Weyer was arrested in connection with the hit-and-run in 2021, after someone overheard him discussing the accident with his mother and sent an anonymous tip to Kansas City police, The Star previously reported. In 2022, a friend of the Hickle family told The Star that they had seen Weyer’s car hit Hickle while he was still airborne from the hit by the first truck.
The case against Weyer was initially filed in May 2022, according to court records. A warrant with the amended charge was served to Weyer in December 2023, according to court documents.
The drivers of the other two vehicles in the accident that killed Hickle have not been identified by police or charged in Missouri courts.
Weyer’s sentence will be delayed by five years so it can be served concurrently with a three-year sentence in Clay County for a separate felony charge of fleeing the scene of another car accident in October 2022. Weyer pleaded guilty to the Clay County charges in December 2023.
Weyer will also go through a 30-day “shock period” in Jackson County jail starting August 1, including 40 hours of community service and 90 days of house arrest enforced by electronic monitoring.
At his plea hearing Thursday, a Jackson County judge spoke with Weyer to make sure he understood how his sentencing for the Arrowhead Stadium hit-and-run would interact with the two other active sets of charges against him. While out on bond for charges related to the 2021 accident, Weyer was arrested in Linn County, Kansas, in November 2022, after allegedly shooting at a car with at least six passengers — his third car-related incident in three years.
The alleged shooting carried eight felony charges, The Star reported. Six were for aggravated battery, according to court records.
Weyer was also arrested in Clay County in 2022 for driving with a suspended license, court records show.
Weyer attended his plea hearing Thursday in a black t-shirt, removing his Royals hat on his way into the courtroom. He spoke solemnly but politely to a Jackson County judge and declined to provide a personal statement.
Steve Hickle’s family was not present in the courtroom Thursday. His widow Laurie Hickle could not be immediately reached for comment.
Laurie Hickle described Steve to The Star in 2022 as a family man, with whom she had planned a future full of love. His death was followed by widespread calls for action towards pedestrian safety programs near Arrowhead Stadium.
“How can somebody hit and kill a man and not have a conscience about what they did?” Hickle told The Star shortly after the accident.
Previous reporting by Robert Cronkleton, Jenna Thompson and Glenn Rice was used in this article.
This story was originally published July 18, 2024 at 6:22 PM.
