Kansas City man pleads guilty in 2019 pursuit that ended in deadly Leavenworth Co. crash
A Kansas City man pleaded guilty Monday in a 2019 crash that killed a teenager as he fled from police on Interstate 70 near Bonner Springs.
Anthony Dorsey, 31, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of 19-year-old Nathan Pena, of Brookfield, Illinois, according to Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson.
The crash occurred Sept. 30, 2019, after Dorsey turned into oncoming traffic on the interstate. At the time, a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper had been trying to stop Dorsey for an alleged registration violation.
Dorsey refused to stop, and police chased him through Wyandotte County into Leavenworth County, Thompson said.
Pena, who was also driving, saw the fleeing vehicle traveling in the wrong direction and tried to avoid it, according to a crash report. Both drivers swerved but their vehicles struck each other head-on, the highway patrol said.
Pena died at the scene. On a GoFundMe page set up for the family, a family friend said Pena had been traveling to Colorado to visit a friend.
Dorsey faces up to 49 years in prison when he is sentenced Sept. 17, prosecutors said.
“Flee and eluding is one of the most dangerous crimes law enforcement deal with on a day to day basis and obviously a huge risk to the community at large,” Thompson said in a statement. “This is a crime that never should have happened.”
Crashes stemming from pursuits have injured and killed bystanders in the Kansas City region before. In 2019, The Star reported that at least six bystanders had been killed, and others grievously injured, in police pursuits since 2014 across the metro.
Research shows suspects evading police are more likely to reduce speed and drive in a safer way if they think police have stopped chasing them, experts previously told The Star.
