Two KCPD officers facing assault charges in violent arrest no longer with the department
Two Kansas City police officers accused of excessive force in three separate incidents are no longer employed by the department, a police spokeswoman said Thursday.
Officers Charles Prichard, 49, and Matthew Brummett, 38, face a felony assault charge related to one of the encounters. The charges stem from a May 2019 incident in which the pair arrested Breona Hill, a Black transgender woman. A passerby captured video of the officers slamming the woman’s head on the ground and placing one of their knees on her neck.
“God help me,” Hill cried out.
They were indicted in May 2020. Charging documents said other officers who viewed the cell phone footage agreed that the force was not justified. Hill’s eye was swollen for several days and she remained bruised and in pain for weeks, according to court records.
Brummett and Prichard were also accused of excessive force in two other alleged beatings.
Activist Troy Robertson said the officers threw him on the hood of a car and struck him several times while he was on the ground. He filed a lawsuit in March that is ongoing. At the time of the filing, the two officers were still with the department.
In another lawsuit, Antwoine King said Prichard ran him over twice with a squad car and that both Prichard and Brummett beat him while he was handcuffed. King suffered facial fractures and a broken leg, he said in the federal lawsuit. The case was dismissed in October, but King filed a notice to appeal that decision.
Prichard also shot a man in January 2019 after the man allegedly tried to grab Brummett’s gun.
Capt. Leslie Foreman, a spokeswoman for the police department, said Thursday that Prichard’s last day was Dec. 27 while Brummett’s was Dec. 16. It is unclear what circumstances they left under.
Brummett and Prichard have police licenses through the state’s Peace Officer Standards and Training Program, but are not currently commissioned by any agency, said Mike O’Connell, a spokesman for the Missouri Department of Public Safety.
Lora McDonald, executive director of MORE2, a social organization, said she was glad the two officers were no longer with the Kansas City Police Department.
“We remain mindful that they are not alone in their violent and discriminatory behavior and that it took way too long for them to be off the force,” she said.
Two other officers have pending criminal charges. Officer Nicholas McQuillen was charged with misdemeanor assault for pepper-spraying a man and his daughter at the summer 2020 protests and Sgt. Matthew Neal was charged with felony assault after allegedly smashing a teen’s face to the ground.
In November, Det. Eric DeValkenaere was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Cameron Lamb. Nearly seven weeks after a judge found him guilty, he remains suspended without pay pending termination, the police department said Thursday.
The Star’s Glenn Rice contributed to this story.
This story was originally published January 6, 2022 at 4:40 PM.
