Off-duty Kansas City cop carjacked at gunpoint while trying to stop assault: Prosecutors
A 43-year-old man is facing serious felony charges for allegedly assaulting an older person in Kansas City’s River Market and then carjacking an off-duty KCPD sergeant who stopped to help.
Van Calvin Callahan Jr., of Kansas City, allegedly attacked a man with a bottle near a bus stop around 11 a.m. Tuesday at Third Street and Grand Boulevard. The assailed man pulled a handgun from his pocket, leading to a struggle that ended with Callahan holding the gun, according to an affidavit filed in federal court Thursday.
The KCPD officer, identified in court documents as Sgt. Selvir Abidovic, was in plain clothes and driving his personal vehicle, a BMW, when he was flagged down by a Kansas City Area Transportation employee. He got out of the car and called out to Callahan to stop.
Callahan allegedly raised the gun, pointed it at Abidovic and pulled the trigger. It did not fire, as the gun was empty.
The off-duty sergeant ran for cover, according to the affidavit, while Callahan got in the driver’s seat of his idling BMW and drove off.
Abidovic then went to help the man on the ground, who was taken to the hospital with lacerations to his head and knees.
Uniformed Kansas City police officers arrived after the car was stolen. They were told the vehicle contained two other firearms, including a KCPD service weapon. It also had a GPS tracker.
A witness captured video of the assault with a cellphone and handed it over to police. It included a still image of a man bleeding on the ground as an assailant, identified by police as Callahan, appears to stomp on him.
Also acquired was surveillance footage from a KCATA bus, which captured video of Callahan attempting to board and then assaulting the man, according to the affidavit.
Roughly an hour after police were called, the off-duty sergeant’s stolen car was spotted on the other side of the state line. A high-speed police pursuit, assisted by helicopter, followed the BMW.
A female passenger was let out of the car during the police chase, according to the affidavit. She told investigators Callahan was high on PCP.
The police pursuit continued until Callahan lost control and crashed into a house in a Kansas City, Kansas, cul-de-sac. He was arrested a short distance away after fleeing on foot and booked in the Wyandotte County jail on charges of eluding police.
Reached for comment Thursday, Sgt. Jake Becchina, a KCPD spokesman, said in a written statement that Abidovic stepped in to protect someone even though he was out of uniform.
Becchina said Chief Stacey Graves was aware of the situation and made mention of it to KCPD staff and violence reduction partners during a weekly meeting Wednesday. She was proud, he said, of Abidovic “for stepping up to help an injured citizen in need during a dangerous situation.”
Prosecutors charged Callahan with carjacking, brandishing a firearm during a violent crime and illegal gun possession. The second of the three offenses carries a maximum punishment of life in prison.
Callahan made his first court appearance before a federal magistrate judge Thursday afternoon. Prosecutors filed a motion seeking to have him held in federal custody until trial.
Callahan was ordered to remain in custody pending the outcome of a detention hearing Tuesday.
