More arrests made in Operation LeGend, including man who allegedly threatened witness
Two more people have been charged under the federal Operation LeGend, including a man who allegedly threatened a witness in a shooting, prosecutors said Thursday.
The two are among more than 50 people arrested so far in connection to the anti-crime initiative named after 4-year-old LeGend Taliferro, who was fatally shot last month in Kansas City.
Shannon Walz, 45, was charged with illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition after Kansas City police arrested him following a foot chase in May. Shortly before, he was accused of threatening a witness to keep their mouth shut about a shooting that led to the victim’s death weeks later.
When police officers arrested Walz, he had two knives and a .40-caliber handgun magazine in his pocket, according to an affidavit unsealed Wednesday.
Police then found video they said showed Walz throwing a handgun into bushes near the front of a church he ran through. Officers found the loaded weapon there, according to prosecutors.
Walz, who had prior convictions for statutory rape and burglary, was charged with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of being a felon in possession of ammunition, prosecutors said.
The FBI agent who signed the affidavit noted in court records he is temporarily assigned to the Kansas City division.
The other defendant whose charges were announced Thursday was 20-year-old Maricela Delores Lozano, who was accused of stealing a car at gunpoint in July from a County Club Plaza parking garage.
In a news release, prosecutors said Lozano used a “Century Arms Draco AK 47-style 9mm pistol” to demand the victim’s keys and cell phone.
Two days later, a Missouri State Highway Patrol corporal saw Lozano in a driveway in Fulton, standing near the stolen car, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Missouri.
As the corporal approached, Lozano allegedly got in the car and tried to flee. The officer stopped the car and found a loaded firearm inside, prosecutors said.
Lozano was charged with one count of carjacking and one count of using a firearm during a crime of violence.
