Kansas City man accused of driving over woman, leaving her brain dead: court records
A 69-year-old man faces two felonies in Jackson County after he allegedly ran over a woman with his car near a Manheim Park neighborhood store and then drove away, leaving her hospitalized with severe injuries.
Richard Douglas Jr., of Kansas City, is charged in Jackson County Circuit Court with second-degree assault and leaving the scene of an accident. He was booked in the Jackson County jail after turning himself over to police Saturday.
According to court records, Kansas City police officers were called Friday to the Troost Mart gas station at 4047 Troost Avenue on a reported auto injury. There they found a woman with “major injuries” to her head and “evidence of road rash about her body,” a detective wrote in court papers.
The woman, who was not identified in court records, was taken to Truman Medical Center by ambulance. Medical staff later advised police that she has “no functioning brain activity” because of her injuries.
Detectives reviewed a surveillance tape that allegedly showed a vehicle registered to Douglas at the store where he is seen conversing with the woman. She appeared agitated and exchanged words with him, according to police.
As Douglas entered the convenience store, the woman did something to one of the tires, police said in court papers, and then started to reach toward the front passenger side tire. She was later seen dropping something on the ground and addressing Douglas again once he walked outside, court papers state. Then she is seen smacking the windshield with her hand before the car speeds up and hits her with the right-front passenger side and rolls over her.
She was dragged through the parking lot underneath the vehicle until it exited onto 41st Street, according to court records.
That morning Douglas allegedly walked into the East Patrol station and turned himself in. He wore the same clothes he was seen in the video and brought a key for the car, according to court records.
During a police interview, Douglas allegedly said he had borrowed the car from a friend and that he had come into the station because “he thought he ran over something.” He told them he was “slightly inebriated” at the time and felt guilty about leaving, according to court records.
Douglas also allegedly described a dispute outside the gas station with a woman he recognized as possibly being a neighbor. He told police she yelled at him about $40 he owed her and had threatened to mess with his tires. She also threatened to have some people she knew go after him, he told police.
During the interview Douglas said he left the parking lot quickly to get away from the woman. He also allegedly admitted that photographs captured on surveillance cameras were of him, and consented to giving his DNA to investigators.
Police found the vehicle in the 3500 block of Wabash. It was towed and searched for evidence.
This story was originally published April 27, 2022 at 7:34 AM.
