Former owner of Rockstar Burgers in Kansas City charged with rape, assault
Brian Smith, the former owner of the now closed Rockstar Burgers in the West Bottoms, is facing rape and assault allegations, according to court documents.
The Jackson County prosecutor in December charged Smith, 44, with rape or attempted rape and first-degree assault or attempted assault, both felonies, according to court records.
An attorney for Smith could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Court documents say police responded on April 7, 2019, to a crash near 16th and Genessee street in the West Bottoms.
The driver told officers she thought she had been raped the night before, allegedly by Smith. Although the case was assigned to a detective in the Kansas City Police Department’s Sex Crimes Unit, the case later became “inactivated” after a lack of contact with the victim.
In December 2019, the victim contacted the Sex Crimes Unit and stated she wanted to proceed with the investigation.
The woman told detectives that on April 6, 2019, she was drinking at Club Aura in Midtown Kansas City when she ran into Smith and his girlfriend. She said she recalled being invited back to Smith’s place, which was a loft above Rockstar Burgers, 1611 Genessee.
The victim didn’t recall the rest of the night, but was awakened by Smith’s girlfriend saying, “You just had sex with my boyfriend.”
When she asked Smith if that was true, Smith allegedly said it was. The victim said she became upset and told him that she hadn’t wanted to have sex. Smith allegedly struck her in the face, causing her to fall and hit her head.
Disoriented, she left in only a T-shirt and as she was leaving, she wrecked her vehicle and called police, according to court documents.
About two weeks later, the victim exchanged messages over Facebook messenger saying she was highly intoxicated the night of the alleged rape. Smith allegedly wrote, “U were lit. I was lit.”
In November 2019, Smith contacted the victim and told her that he had video and witnesses. The video would be from surveillance cameras positioned in the loft, the victim told detectives.
In November 2019, hundreds of people began calling for Rockstar Burgers to close down after a graphic video was posted on a page for the restaurant.
Police raided the restaurant on Dec. 9, 2019, as part of an investigation into the alleged sexual assault investigation. The restaurant, which opened in 2013, closed.
During the raid, police obtained video from the surveillance video, but no files could be located from April 6-7, 2019.
However, when Smith was arrested the next day on an unrelated warrant, two iPhones were recovered. While reviewing photos and videos on those phones, investigators found video without audio from the surveillance cameras showing Smith shoving the victim, who falls and hits her head on a wooden desk.
The video shows the victim trying to defend herself and Smith pushing her to the ground two separate times before it cuts off.
Smith, who is facing domestic assault and armed criminal action charges in Platte County for allegedly striking an ex-girlfriend in the head with a handgun, is among more than a dozen defendants also indicted in a drug conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and heroin.
The federal indictment alleges the defendants engaged in the drug conspiracy from Jan. 1, 2017 to Sept. 30, 2020.
Smith has pleaded not guilty in both cases.
This story was originally published March 17, 2022 at 10:32 AM.
