Man shot by police during arrest in downtown KC accused of selling cocaine, gun crimes
A 30-year-old Kansas City man who was shot by police during a narcotics sting Monday has been charged with multiple felonies, including drug and weapons charges.
Jackson County prosecutors have charged Kenyon A. Harrington with two counts of delivering a controlled substance, two counts of possessing a controlled substance, unlawful possession of a firearm and two counts of unlawful use of a weapon.
He has also been accused of resisting arrest, which police said led to the shooting during a drug investigation Monday afternoon in downtown Kansas City.
Police shot Harrington after he allegedly attempted to flee by ramming through police vehicles as officers tried to arrest him about 1:50 p.m. in the parking lot of the Grand Slam convenience store at 631 Grand Boulevard.
According to court documents:
An undercover Kansas City police narcotics detective used $40 of pre-recorded money to purchase 1 gram of cocaine from a man who allegedly identified himself as “Keyys” on July 10 near Van Brunt Boulevard and Independence Avenue.
At the time, the man was driving a black Nissan Maxima with Missouri license plates JC1F4S. He also provided his phone number to the detective.
About 12:30 p.m. July 15, the same detective arranged to buy more drugs using the phone number that the man had provided. The man allegedly told the detective to meet him in the 5400 block of Lydia Avenue, where the detective used $40 of pre-recorded money to buy .7 grams of cocaine. The man also allegedly provided a sample of .7 grams of marijuana.
About 12:40 Monday, the detective contacted the man and set up another $40 transaction for cocaine that was to take place at Grand Slam.
At 1:48 p.m., the man allegedly sent a text to the detective saying, “I’m here.”
A team of undercover narcotics officers had observed the black Nissan pull into the parking lot of the store and park facing north. Once they confirmed it was the same vehicle, tactical officers attempted to arrest the man in the car, who was later identified as Harrington.
Harrington allegedly attempted to flee by ramming through police vehicles. When that was not successful, he allegedly got out of the car with a firearm and pointed it in the direction of the officers. One of the officers fired his weapon, hitting Harrington. He was taken to a hospital.
Police said they seized a loaded black Sig Sauer .45 semi-auto handgun that Harrington allegedly dropped when he was shot. Police also found two cellphones on the ground near where Harrington was arrested.
Hospital staff turned over to police $541 and identification they found on Harrington when he was brought in. Among the cash was the pre-recorded money from a previous drug transaction with the undercover detective, according to the charging documents.
Harrington allegedly asked if he could give his money to someone rather than have it seized by police. He also asked if police were seizing his car.
The undercover detective was shown a photo lineup that contained a photo of Harrington, but the detective was unable to identify Harrington as the man who sold him the drugs.
When they searched inside Harrington’s car, police allegedly found drugs that tested positive for cocaine, as well as a Missouri ID belonging to Harrington.
Harrington was being held in the Jackson County jail with bond set at $100,000.
This story was originally published July 25, 2019 at 9:07 AM.
