Independence police captain says former chief crashed car while driving drunk: lawsuit

An Independence police captain has filed a lawsuit accusing city leaders and top department officials of interfering with internal affairs investigations into alleged misconduct, including drinking and driving and a crash involving the former police chief, and retaliating against him when he pushed back.

The lawsuit, filed April 21 in Jackson County Circuit Court, alleges a pattern of age discrimination, retaliation and obstruction within the Independence Police Department. The petition claims city officials and command staff delayed or undermined Capt. Billy Pope’s investigations into senior leaders resulted in discipline being overturned and raised concerns about accountability at the highest levels of the department.

Pope is a 17-year veteran officer with Independence and currently serves as head of the internal affairs unit, according to the complaint. He is seeking compensatory and punitive damages and has requested a jury trial. Pope’s lawyer, David Lunceford, declined to comment for this story.

The lawsuit alleges that since the selection of former police chief Adam Dustman in 2021, city officials have engaged in a pattern of discriminating against older employees, as well as interfered with Pope’s work in internal affairs, particularly with investigating Dustman and two deputy chiefs, Jason Petersen and Michelle Sumstad.

Dustman, Petersen and Sumstad did not respond to requests for comment. Independence Police Department officials did not respond to requests for comment.

“The City of Independence is aware of the lawsuit filed by Billy Pope and intends to vigorously defend itself against the allegations,” said Madeline Rincon, a spokeswoman for the city. “Due to the pending litigation, we don’t have any further comment at this time.”

Dustman resigned from the department in August 2025, but The Star recently reported that he was still being paid by the city as part of a separation agreement that the city would not make public, citing public records exemptions.

In February 2025, Pope discovered that the internal affairs tracking system used for the department since 2020 contained no investigative files relating to an incident where Dustman allegedly crashed his city patrol vehicle into two mailboxes while allegedly intoxicated in September 2024.

Pope reported this to Petersen, and a training form was issued to Dustman as a result, according to the lawsuit.

“When Plaintiff reported the absence of any IA (internal affairs) investigation into Dustman’s vehicle accident, Dustman ‘cautioned’ Plaintiff that discussing internal affairs investigations with any outside source, absent a court subpoena, was a demotable offense,” the filing said. “Plaintiff reasonably understood this statement as a threat intended to silence him and prevent him from further reporting misconduct.”

The lawsuit claims that following this, Pope was given unwarranted scrutiny of his work by the deputy chief, including requiring him to rewrite a report five times, which court records say was the first in a series of escalating retaliation.

Drinking and driving investigations

In March 2025, Pope was assigned to investigate allegations that both deputy chief Petersen and Sumstad had consumed alcohol on duty and then drove in their city-issued vehicles, the lawsuit alleges.

A month later, Dustman requested a meeting with Pope to discuss the investigation, and according to the lawsuit, downplayed the behavior, saying there was “nothing to these allegations.”

Pope told Dustman that he believed the consumption of alcohol and then driving their city vehicles violated department policy and law, according to the filing.

“Dustman further claimed the policy applied only to being intoxicated and impaired, not just having one or two drinks,” the lawsuit said. “Dustman acknowledged that he himself had consumed a few drinks at a family function and then driven home later in his city-issued vehicle, but characterized himself as ‘not intoxicated.’”

The lawsuit said that Dustman’s comments demonstrated a deliberate attempt to minimize the conduct and were meant to influence and interfere with the investigation.

Internal affairs investigations are required to be completed and discipline recommendations issued to the officer involved within 90 days from the start of the investigation, per the Missouri police officer bill of rights.

Under the law passed in 2021, most police officer misconduct records and internal investigations are closed to the public.

The lawsuit claims that during Pope’s investigation, assistant city manager Charlie Dissell and City Attorney Holly Dodge actively obstructed and hindered him from obtaining polygraph exams that had been approved.

The lawsuit alleges that despite the polygraph examinations being approved for Petersen and Sumstad, Dodge blocked them from moving forward, saying they might violate the police officer bill of rights and were an outdated tool no longer used by police departments.

A detective in Pope’s unit found that five metro-area law enforcement agencies still use polygraph examinations as part of their internal affairs investigations, according to the filing.

“Despite this research, Dodge and Dissell continued to obstruct and delay Plaintiff’s investigation, repeatedly demanding additional documentation and justification for investigative steps that Plaintiff had already taken in accordance with standard practice,” the lawsuit said.

Pope completed the investigation within 70 days and submitted his report to Dissell for review. The lawsuit claims that Dissell and Dodge knowingly and intentionally delayed the process so that the recommendation would be issued outside of the 90-day window.

“Because discipline was issued on the 91st day, against Plaintiff’s constant objections, Sumstad successfully appealed her discipline on POBOR grounds, her suspension was rescinded, and she suffered no consequences for consuming alcohol and thereafter operating a city-issued vehicle,” the lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit alleges that during the investigation, Pope visited the establishment where Sumstad and Petersen had allegedly been drinking and the waitress told Pope that Sumstad had told her that he would be coming.

“Sumstad’s pre-investigation communication with a potential witness, in which she identified Plaintiff by name and signaled his impending arrival, constituted an improper attempt to influence witness cooperation during an active IA investigation and a violation of department policy,” the lawsuit said.

Ticket-fixing investigation

The lawsuit claims that during the investigation into the drinking and driving by the deputy chiefs, Pope found evidence that Sumstad had contacted another law enforcement agency to try and fix a traffic ticket for a friend.

Pope opened a second investigation into the incident and multiple Police Department commanders confirmed that Sumstad had attempted to fix the ticket, according to the filing.

Sumstad made false statements during the investigation, according to the filing.

“In yet another act of insulating Sumstad from discipline, Petersen, who had been appointed Acting Chief of Police following Dustman’s resignation, unsubstantiated the allegations, rewrote the investigatory summary and findings to omit and discredit the evidence Plaintiff had gathered, and issued Plaintiff a written document with a litany of accusations against Plaintiff, including that Plaintiff had been ‘biased’ and had conducted a poor investigation,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit claims that the accusations were serious and implicated Pope’s credibility as a law enforcement officer and created a risk that he would be placed on the Giglio list, a list of officers whose credibility may be challenged in court. Pope opened a third investigation into Sumstad, following reports of drinking and then driving a city-issued vehicle.

The lawsuit alleges Petersen removed Pope from the investigation four hours after he had notified Sumstad of a scheduled interview. The lawsuit claims that Pope reported to the now-interim chief Doug Brinkley in December 2025 that he believed Petersen had improperly influenced the ticket fixing investigation to shield Sumstad.

The filing claims that Pope does not know whether either deputy chief has been disciplined regarding their conduct to date.

Ben Wheeler

The Kansas City Star