‘I can’t breathe’: Why is Independence cop who punched man in crisis still employed?
Independence police officer David Wehlermann twice punched a man experiencing a mental health crisis during an arrest at a Price Chopper last year. His behavior cost taxpayers $82,500. If not for surveillance footage, Wehlermann may have gotten away with the attack entirely, which is one reason the Independence Police Department needs body cameras.
Even with the footage, he remains with the department, city officials said this week. If a recently released video of the February 2020 incident is any indication of how Wehlermann interacts with the public, he doesn’t deserve to keep his job.
Officials in Independence continue to hide behind confidentiality agreements and privacy laws and declined to comment. And why did the man get a settlement from the city without even filing a lawsuit? In exchange for his silence, of course.
Independence has more than 200 police officers on the street. Not one of them wears a body camera, though cameras protect both officers and the people they encounter while on patrol. Most police agencies in the metropolitan area that are the size of the Independence Police Department have them. The Independence Police Foundation, a newly-formed nonprofit, is exploring ways to raise money to purchase some, and let’s hope they are able to do that quickly.
Police were called to the Price Chopper after the man told a manager there that someone was trying to kill him. A transcript of an audio recording of the altercation captured by a police vehicle’s dashboard camera shows he also told Wehlermann and another officer that someone was after him. Police officers take an oath to protect and serve, but Wehlermann did neither. He refused to help the man, escalated the situation, and eventually struck the man before taking him to the ground.
One of the blows to the man’s face caused bleeding. The officer not only demonstrated a lack of self-control, but omitted the fact he’d struck the man in the police report he filed. That alone should have been cause for termination; what else don’t we know about?
“I can’t (expletive) breathe,” the man said after Wehlermann punched him and took him to the ground.
“You’re talking, you’re breathing,” Wehlermann responded.
“Wow,” the man said. “Can you get off me? I’m already cuffed, sir. I’m not resisting. Everyone can see I’m not resisting.” Thankfully, Wehlermann’s overreaction didn’t end tragically.
The only thing the man who was punched was charged with was interference. The Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office is reviewing the case for possible criminal charges. And what kind of confidence can residents of Independence have in their police force in the meantime?
Since the lesson here can’t be, “Don’t have a psychiatric episode in Independence,” the more likely takeaway is, “Think twice before you involve the police in a situation like that.”
This story was originally published August 6, 2021 at 5:00 AM.