WICHITA — Questions linger after the death of a Wichita man, fatally injured last month after being hit by a police vehicle driven by an officer with the Wichita Police Department. The man’s Feb. 17 death is under investigation by the Kansas Highway Patrol, but FactFinder is learning more about what first responders knew or didn’t know that night.
That question was brought to FactFinder 12, and we pulled the radio traffic. It shows that the police officer behind the wheel of the WPD SUV that hit the man last month never told dispatch that someone had been critically injured.
The crash is now classified as a criminal investigation, so all of FactFinder’s requests for public information have been denied. This public information includes the crash report and basic dispatch information, things we’ve requested and received in the past.
While all our requests have been denied in this case, we have a copy of the radio traffic.
A little before 8 p.m. Feb. 17 at Seneca and MacArthur, the SUV driven by the WPD officer hit and killed 51-year-old Jeffrey Moss.
On his call to emergency dispatch, the officer reported a man down and requested EMS.
According to Sedgwick County and the City of Wichita, a “man down” call is, by definition, a lower-priority call, describing “a person down in a public place.” Reporting a “man down” is not meant for traumatic injuries or crashes.
The officer did escalate the call by requesting the ambulance to use lights and sirens, which typically doesn’t happen on a “man down” call again, because “man down” is, by definition, a lower priority, not reflective of what happened on Feb. 17.
“There appeared to be some irregularities in the procedure heard on the dispatch tape,” said Wichita attorney Dan Monnat.
Monnat has no connection to the Feb. 17 case. He points out that, on the report to 911, the officer never tells the dispatcher that he hit a person or that Moss was critically injured. The officer does, however, call for his supervisor and asks the street to be blocked.
Monnat said the report of a “10-48, injury accident would be a much better communication of the urgency of the situation.”
Here’s why: The officer called in a “man down” and requested EMS with lights and siren, which triggers a response for one ambulance and two paramedics and a firetruck with a minimum of two firefighters, according to the city and the county.
But what happened on Feb. 17 was an injury crash involving a pedestrian in critical condition. Had that call been made, dispatchers would’ve sent an ambulance, an EMS district chief and two firetrucks with at least five firefighters.
That’s not the call firefighters heard on Feb. 17. They didn’t even know what they were responding to.
The dispatched ambulance was also delayed by a train. Even then, nothing was relayed to dispatch that Moss was critically injured; not by the officer driving the SUV that hit Moss or by other WPD officers arriving at the scene. Not until the firefighters arrived did they know how badly Moss was injured.
“Could all of this be explained by the shock and panic of a sudden automobile crash? Maybe, but there are certainly questions that arise from the dispatcher tape that have to be addressed,” Monnat said. “Why does it take so long for someone to communicate trauma, (that a man was hit by a police car?”) Why are no familiar codes for ‘injury accident’ used to express that a human being is lying in the street, severely injured.”
These are questions that police can’t answer yet because of the ongoing investigation. In a statement, Wichita police said, “In the interest of transparency and accountability to the citizens of Wichita and the family of the pedestrian, Chief Sullivan contacted the Kansas Highway Patrol on the night of the incident and requested that it conduct a complete investigation. Once that investigation is completed, a report will be provided to District Attorney Marc Bennett for review.” The department added, “If appropriate, disciplinary action will be taken.”
Until that investigation is complete, questions remain about the night the police vehicle hit Moss and the response in the moments that followed.
Full statement from WPD:
The officer requested that EMS and Fire respond in an emergency manner. In the interest of transparency and accountability to the citizens of Wichita and the family of the pedestrian, Chief Sullivan immediately contacted the Kansas Highway Patrol on the night of the incident and requested that it conduct a complete investigation. Once that investigation is completed, a report will be provided to District Attorney Marc Bennett for review. Pursuant to WPD Policy 902, after the conclusion of that investigation, a Professional Standards Bureau Administrative Internal Investigation will be conducted into all aspects of this case. At the conclusion of that investigation, if appropriate, disciplinary action will be taken. Due to the ongoing criminal investigation and pending internal investigation, consistent with the ALERT protocol, which governs the release of information to the media while an outside agency is conducting an investigation into the actions of a WPD member, Chief Sullivan is prohibited from making any further comment on this matter at this time.
What we know about the crash:
The Kansas Highway Patrol is leading the investigation. We know it was dark and that Moss was crossing the street outside of a crosswalk.
When the Kansas Highway Patrol completes its investigation, troopers will present the facts to the Sedgwick County district attorney for review. As part of FactFinder’s investigation, we’ve been in contact with Moss’ family. Because the Feb. 17 crash is under investigation, they didn’t want to speak on camera.
See full video at KWCH.com