KCK pharma company CEO on leave, after accusations he strangled, hit woman again
Shane Schaffer, the chief executive officer of the Kansas City, Kansas-based pharmaceutical company Cingulate, is on leave after he was accused of strangling and hitting a woman he was in a relationship with earlier this month, newly-released court documents show.
Schaffer, 51, was charged with aggravated domestic battery, a felony, in Johnson County District Court for the Aug. 9 incident.
The accusations from earlier this month mirror those made in another alleged domestic violence incident in September last year involving the same woman. That matter also resulted in an aggravated domestic battery charge.
As part of a plea agreement, in January, Schaffer pleaded no contest to a count of endangering, a misdemeanor, and a judge placed him on probation for one year. Following the new charge this month, he has posted a $7,500 bond for an alleged probation violation and a $50,000 bond for the new battery charge, according to court records.
Cingulate’s board said Aug. 15 it was placing Schaffer, the company’s chairman and CEO, on administrative leave “in connection with ongoing legal matters unrelated to the company and its operations.”
The company’s chief financial officer, Jennifer Callahan, was named as interim CEO, and board member Jay Roberts was appointed executive chairman.
Aug. 9 incident
Prairie Village police officers were called to a home Aug. 9 on a domestic disturbance call involving Schaffer and the woman, who allegedly told police Schaffer choked and hit her, according to a probable cause affidavit released to The Star.
Schaffer, who had lacerations on his forearms, face and neck, allegedly told police he got into a “verbal and physical altercation” with the woman, police said.
He said earlier in the evening, the two had been at a bar before they left separately. He got home around midnight, and when she arrived, she began to yell at him and scratch him, he said. He said she left on her own and told him she was going to “tell the neighbors.”
He showed an officer some video from a security camera in which the woman could be seen on the front porch telling him he was a “Psycho Larry (expletive) Junior” for slapping and punching her, according to court documents.
The woman could be heard on the video saying, “I’m gonna go tell them, because you (expletive) hit me for no reason,” a police corporal wrote in the affidavit.
Schaffer later declined to show police other clips, according to court documents.
The woman alleged Schaffer followed her outside and dragged her back inside the house.
“Once inside the house he put her on the couch and began strangling her with one hand while hitting her with the other,” the corporal wrote, relaying the woman’s account of the incident. “She said that this lasted for about a minute and at one point he told her, ‘I will snap your neck and kill you.’ She stated she was able to get him off by kicking him and running out the door.”
The woman declined medical attention, police said.
Schaffer’s attorney, Brandan Davies, didn’t respond to a request for comment Friday. Previously, he told The Star Schaffer had done nothing wrong.
“We trust that the justice system will work in this case and ultimately the truth will come to light,” he said previously.
September 2024
In the Sept. 23, 2024, incident, police were called after the woman ran shirtless to a neighbor’s residence with her head covered in blood, according to a probable cause affidavit.
She told police that while she and Schaffer were driving back from the airport earlier, he became agitated and shoved her head into the glass and struck her repeatedly, according to court documents. An argument continued at the house, and the woman alleged Schaffer struck her multiple times in the face and abdomen.
She said she fought back and scratched at Schaffer, leaving marks on his face and arms. At one point, she fell down some stairs and injured herself further, according to court documents.
When she told Schaffer she was leaving, “...he told her she wasn’t going anywhere and grabbed her by the shirt,” which she pulled out of before running out of the house, a police sergeant wrote. The woman allegedly told police he struck her and placed her in a chokehold for about 20 seconds.
“I was choking, and I couldn’t breathe,” she said. “I thought I was going to die.”
The woman was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Schaffer allegedly told police the two had been drinking and that, “I love her to death, but she got super drunk. She started (expletive) attacking and gave a swing at me and fell down the stairs.”
Prior to Schaffer’s plea to the misdemeanor charge, Davies, Schaffer’s attorney, argued his client had acted defensively.
“Defendant and the alleged victim got into an argument, ultimately leading to police interaction,” he wrote in court documents. “At all times during the argument and any ensuing physical contact, Defendant was not the aggressor and acted in self-defense.”
