‘Need to get this stopped’: KCPD hurried to block car from reaching parade crowd
Kansas City police expressed an urgent need to stop a car that crashed through a barrier and led officers on a chase down the Chiefs Super Bowl parade route, according to audio recordings of police radio traffic during the pursuit.
The chase occurred hours before the parade was to begin on Grand Boulevard in downtown Kansas City Wednesday. A green Ford Taurus broke through a barrier on the north end of the route in the River Market area, police said.
After traveling south down the length of the route, the car turned west on Pershing Road and headed toward a large crowd at Union Station.
“We got a lot of pedestrians down here — there is no clear path — we need to get this stopped,” a police officer can be heard saying on the audio captured on Broadcastify.com, which covered only a portion of the chase.
“There are pedestrians on all sides, if we can box it in, I would say this would maybe be the time,” the officer said.
Police used a tactical maneuver to stop the car shortly thereafter between Main Street and Grand on Pershing Road. A man and a woman were arrested. No injuries were reported, police said.
Even though the car was stopped, police wanted to make sure that the threat had ended.
“Hey, have we cleared that trunk?” officers at the scene were asked. “I’m interested not only in people, but also anything that could be a device.”
Police searched the vehicle and found no weapons or explosives.
The motive of the driver was not known, police said. Police were investigating whether the driver may have been impaired.
The chase was not thought to be related to any act of terrorism, said Sgt. Jacob Becchina, a spokesman for the Kansas City Police Department.
Star reporter Kevin Hardy contributed to this report.
This story was originally published February 5, 2020 at 2:35 PM.
