KC sergeant charged with felony. Indictment says 15-year-old pleaded ‘I can’t breathe’

A Kansas City police sergeant has been indicted on a felony assault charge involving a 15-year-old victim, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office announced Friday.

A grand jury indicted Sgt. Matthew T. Neal, 40, after reviewing evidence from a Nov. 14, 2019, incident in a parking lot at 51st Street and Troost Avenue.

Neal is an 18-year veteran of the department assigned to the patrol bureau. He has been on administrative leave following the internal investigation, the police department said.

The teen was lying on the ground when Neal allegedly forced his knee on the back of the teen’s head.

The victim is heard saying “I can’t breathe,” Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said during a press conference announcing the criminal indictment.

“I know those have become very infamous words, but those were his words back when this occurred,” Baker said.

Those three words became a rallying cry following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, who spoke the phrase several times as an officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck.

Floyd’s death sparked protests across the country, including in Kansas City.

The teen suffered a gash on his head, bruising and broken teeth, the prosecutor’s office said. He was taken to Children’s Mercy Hospital for treatment and received six stitches near his hairline. He is still receiving treatment for the injuries to his teeth.

Baker said she was disturbed that the incident occurred in November, but her office did not become aware of it until the spring.

“We can all agree that it is not a provocative statement that this just can’t be tolerated,” she said. “That this conduct cannot be tolerated.

“We have a system that we all have to trust that is going to alert us to these types of incidents. But obviously, this system isn’t quite working when it takes information this long to get information to the right spot.

“I simply can’t be blindsided by a lack of information.”

Police Chief Rick Smith said the department became aware of the incident after a complaint was made and investigated by the Office of Community Complaints.

The case file was sent to Baker’s office as well as the FBI and federal prosecutors.

“All of us want justice,” Smith said in a statement. “And we remain committed to the legal process going forward.”

Brad Lemon, president of the Kansas City Fraternal Order of the Police, said in a statement that the police lodge is aware of the charges against Neal.

“The Lodge supports Sgt. Neal and believes that his actions were justified under the totality of the circumstances,” Lemon said. “We will support our brother as this matter proceeds to court, where we are confident that he will be ultimately exonerated.”

According to charging documents, the victim was a passenger in a car that fled as police attempted to pull it over.

The vehicle came to a stop in the parking lot of Go-Chicken-Go. The driver and the teen exited the car and got on their knees with their hands up, charging documents said.

The teen did not struggle or pull away, Baker said.

Neal pressed his knee into the teen’s head and neck, pinning the teen’s face into the pavement and forcing him to struggle for oxygen, charging documents said.

The teen was not arrested or charged with any crime associated with the incident.

Lora McDonald, executive director of the Metro Organization for Racial and Economic Equity, said the group is upset that the public is just learning about the incident.

“The season of sweeping things under the rug and concealing the imperfections/wrongdoings of officers in Kansas City has expired. We will continue to demand that our home be cleared of these injustices,” McDonald said. “The immediate removal of Chief Smith is necessary, as he has a well established pattern of concealing the truth to the benefit of the officers and the detriment of public safety.

“MORE2 believes new leadership and local control are the only ways we can begin build trust between the community and this department and we remain steadfast in our pursuit of both.”

MORE2, along with the Urban League of Greater Kansas City and the Kansas City branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People have called for Chief Smith to resign. The groups cited a lack of confidence in his handling of fatal police shootings of Black men, and allegations of excessive use of force by the police department.

Neal is the fourth Kansas City police officer to be indicted by the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office since May.

In June, a Jackson County grand jury indicted Eric J. DeValkenare, 41, in the 2019 killing of Cameron Lamb, who was shot while sitting in his pickup truck in his own backyard.

Weeks earlier, two police officers, Matthew G. Brummett and Charles Prichard, were each charged with assaulting Breona Hill, 30, a transgender woman they arrested. The officers were accused of slamming Hill’s face against the concrete sidewalk and kneed her in the face, torso and ribs.

This story was originally published August 21, 2020 at 4:22 PM.