Despite 4 DWIs & child abuse plea, longtime KC firefighter remains on the job
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- KC firefighter has kept job after series of DWIs and a 2024 child abuse plea.
- Court records show probation violations and suspended sentences across years.
- City resists commenting; says personnel records closed under Missouri Sunshine Law.
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The KCFD Files
A series of stories highlights Kansas City Fire Department employees who have been charged with serious crimes — including fatal crashes, a felony drug case and multiple DWIs — and were allowed to remain on the job, some for years.
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Since joining the Kansas City Fire Department in 2002, Sam Santa Maria has racked up several DWI cases and pleaded guilty to child abuse in 2024.
After his last drunken driving conviction — a felony — he violated his probation five times in six months, court records show.
But through the years, Santa Maria, 50, managed to keep his job. Indeed, he is one of a startling number of Kansas City firefighters who remained on the employee rolls despite being convicted of serious crimes, including felonies.
Among the examples: A longtime firefighter who remained on the job despite six DWIs spanning four counties. A fire captain who struck a fellow firefighter in the rectum so forcefully that it sent him to the hospital. And a firefighter who was charged with brutally attacking a woman in a road rage incident in 2019, then got probation and now faces two more felony charges for allegedly urinating on a female co-worker’s belongings.
Lynne Bratcher, an attorney who has represented employees in lawsuits against KCFD and the city — including a whistleblower lawsuit filed by Kansas City’s former communications director Chris Hernandez that was settled last year for $1.4 million — said Santa Maria’s case was troubling.
“I do not believe in wholesale firing or failing to hire merely because of a criminal background,” Bratcher said. “I think people who have paid their dues and have reformed should be given a second chance.
“But four DUIs and a conviction for child abuse is excessive. If someone repeatedly commits crimes that could endanger the public, he or she should not be a firefighter. I think that’s really problematic.”
Santa Maria could not be reached for comment. His attorney, Mark Ferguson, declined to comment.
Battalion Chief Michael Hopkins, a KCFD spokesman, confirmed that Santa Maria is an employee who holds the rank of firefighter but said the department can’t comment on legal or personnel matters.
Santa Maria was hired by KCFD on Feb. 11, 2002, and his 2025 salary was $91,814, according to information provided by the city in response to a Missouri Sunshine Law request. But records regarding hiring, firing, disciplining or promoting of particular employees, the city says, are closed under the Sunshine Law.
A series of DWI convictions
Court documents show that Santa Maria’s string of alcohol-related cases goes back to at least 2007.
He was arrested on Feb 17, 2007, for operating a motor vehicle under the influence of liquor or drugs at 10:42 p.m. at Interstate 35 and Chouteau Trafficway, according to Kansas City Municipal Court records. The charge was revised to operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of .08% or more. The legal limit is a BAC below .08%.
Santa Maria pleaded guilty to the revised charge on April 23, 2007. Municipal court records show he was sentenced to 90 days in jail, then the sentence was suspended and he was placed on two years of probation. As part of the probation, he was ordered to complete a Substance Awareness Traffic Offender Program and a Victim Impact Panel class.
But before he pleaded guilty in that case, court records show that Santa Maria was charged in Clay County Circuit Court on March 28, 2007, with “DWI alcohol – prior offender,” a class A misdemeanor. He pleaded guilty to that count on May 9, 2007, and was sentenced to 180 days in the Clay County jail.
The judge suspended execution of the sentence and placed him on two years of probation, but ordered him to spend the final two days of it in jail. Court records show he successfully completed probation and the case was dismissed on May 20, 2009.
Less than two months later, on July 11, 2009, Santa Maria was again stopped for DWI, according to court records. He was charged in Clay County Circuit Court on Nov. 9, 2009, with “DWI-alcohol,” a class B misdemeanor. He pleaded guilty on Jan. 15, 2010, and was sentenced to 150 days in the Clay County jail. Court records show he was granted work release.
On March 16, 2015, Santa Maria was charged in Platte County Circuit Court with “DWI - alcohol - aggravated offender,” a class C felony. He pleaded guilty Nov. 5, 2015. The judge sentenced him to five years in prison, then suspended execution of the sentence and placed him on five years’ probation.
The probation included 60 days of jail “shock time,” the court records said. He also was ordered to complete a Substance Awareness Traffic Offender Program and a DWI court program.
Santa Maria didn’t spend 60 straight days in jail, according to court documents. He was to serve 30 days immediately, then report to jail at 6 a.m. on Saturdays and stay until 6 a.m. on Mondays for 15 consecutive weekends. The judge later granted his request to spend his remaining 18 days consecutively instead of on weekends.
After sentencing, court records show, Santa Maria had five probation violation reports in a six-month period — on Dec. 30, 2015; Jan. 6, 2016; Feb. 11, 2016; April 13, 2016; and June 22, 2016. But no disciplinary action was taken, the court documents say, “due to defendant being in the court program.”
Court records show that after his conviction, Santa Maria’s driver’s license was revoked for 10 years, starting on Dec. 11, 2015, because he’d had at least three driving while intoxicated offenses.
Child abuse charge
Santa Maria was back in court in 2024, this time charged with child abuse.
Kansas City Municipal Court records say that on March 6, 2024, he “did attempt to cause, intentionally cause or recklessly cause physical injury to (the child) by tackling (the child) to the ground and striking (the child) in the face with his fist causing pain and bruising.”
The maximum penalty for violating that city ordinance is six months in prison and a $1,000 fine.
Santa Maria pleaded guilty in Kansas City Municipal Court on July 12, 2024, and received a two-year suspended imposition of sentence. He was ordered to complete parenting and substance abuse education programs.
In October 2025, Santa Maria filed a petition with the Missouri Director of Revenue asking that his driving privileges be reinstated.
“Petitioner has not been convicted of any offense related to alcohol, controlled substances or drugs since November 5, 2015,” it said. “Petitioner’s habits and conduct during the preceding ten (10) years show that Petitioner no longer poses a threat to the public safety of their state.”
On Dec. 12, the court ordered that his driving privileges be restored once he completed the reinstatement requirements, which included installation of an ignition interlock device with a camera and GPS in his vehicle.
A document filed in the case on Jan. 14 showed that the ignition interlock device was installed on Dec. 31.
