Will MO deputy face charges for punching suicidal man in ambulance? Here’s what to know
A former Benton County deputy who body camera footage shows punched a suicidal Lee’s Summit man has not been charged in the incident.
Video footage captured Deputy Jacob Sebren punching a suicidal man inside an ambulance. Benton County Sheriff Eric Knox said after watching the footage from that April 1 day, he knew Sebren should be fired.
Knox said he referred the case to the prosecutor’s office after he fired Sebren.
But the decision whether to file charges won’t rest with the Benton County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Someone answering the phone at the prosecutor’s office Monday morning said that the office recused itself and the case was being handled by another county prosecutor.
“What I can tell you is that case has never touched our office,” she said. “So, if there is any information that you want on that case, you need to call the Pettis County prosecutor.”
The Star left a message for Pettis County Prosecutor Robert Anthony “Tony” Farkas; that message was not immediately returned. A Missouri online court database shows no charges have been filed against the former deputy at this point. Benton County is about 110 miles southeast of Kansas City and Pettis is nearly 85 miles away.
The family of Donald Bellos, of Lee’s Summit, called 911 because he was suicidal and had ingested something. The body camera footage shows what happened inside the ambulance that day.
His family was outside at the time of the incident. Bellos’ daughter, Brooke, said they could hear “screams” coming from inside the ambulance and her dad say “Help me,” multiple times.
The Bellos family, through their Kansas City attorney Tom Porto, filed a lawsuit in late June alleging assault, medical negligence and Sunshine Law violations. Named as defendants are the two deputies involved that day, Jacob Sebren and Detective Hope Hearn along with Undersheriff Kelly Lowe, the Warsaw-Lincoln Ambulance District and Paramedic Kendra Zeiset.
“Deputy Jacob Sebren placed him in a jaw hold, tased Bellos in the stomach, punched him in the jaw and proceeded to choke him until paramedic Kendra Zeiset warned, ‘Don’t make him pass out,’” a news release from Porto’s law firm said. “Deputy Sebren tased the restrained patient a third time, stating, ‘Whoops, that one was an accident.’”
Hearn was suspended and placed on probation, the sheriff said, and received additional training.
A video of the deputies telling Bellos’ family to leave the scene has been viewed more than 2.7 million times on TikTok.
