Rockstar Burgers owner denied bond as prosecutor says wider investigation continues
Brian D. Smith, owner of the now-shuttered Rockstar Burgers restaurant in the West Bottoms, was denied bond again Tuesday in a Platte County domestic assault case as prosecutors argued he is still under investigation and poses a danger to the victim.
Smith has been in jail in Platte County since his Dec. 5 arrest on suspicion of hitting his ex-girlfriend in the head with a pistol, resulting in charges of domestic assault and armed criminal action. Smith was previously denied bond in December.
Assistant Platte County prosecutor Kaitlynn Donnelly said during a bond hearing in Platte City that Smith’s case is one that “spans multiple counties” and continues to produce new evidence. Donnelly told Platte County Circuit Court Judge Abe Quint Shafer that other law enforcement officials, including one from the Drug Enforcement Administration, were ready to speak at the hearing about why Smith should be denied bond.
Those officials did not end up giving testimony.
“He poses a clear and convincing danger to the victim should he be released,” Donnelly said.
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Smith appeared at Tuesday’s hearing wearing a blue jail jumpsuit and was accompanied by his mother and lawyer Mark Gilmore. Gilmore said Smith had no prior convictions, that the victim in the alleged assault case had been in a romantic relationship with Smith and that the victim did not reside at the residence where the alleged incident took place.
“Any of these other charges they’re alluding to have not been brought forward,” Gilmore said.
Gilmore asked Shafer to consider setting Smith’s bond at $200,000, which Shafer denied.
Just prior to Smith’s arrest in December, Rockstar Burgers was the subject of a flurry of allegations that circulated on social media, including claims that graphic imagery had been posted on a web page for the business. The Star has not independently verified the all of the facts underlying the social media allegations.
When Kansas City Police Department officers raided the building where Rockstar Burgers is located at 1611 Genessee Street, they acknowledged that the search was related to a sexual assault investigation.
A search warrant application for that raid on Dec. 9 said that a woman reported she was raped in April in a loft above Rockstar Burgers. No charges have been brought in that case. The Star generally does not name those accused of sex crimes unless they have been charged.
The 24-hour burger restaurant shut down just prior to Smith’s arrest in Platte County.
This story was originally published January 14, 2020 at 12:03 PM.
