KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - The Kansas City Police Department two years ago quietly paid $425,000 to an unarmed man who was shot in the face by an officer who initially faced criminal charges in the shooting.
The Kansas City Star reported the payment Tuesday. The newspaper said it only recently learned of the 2018 settlement with Anthony Contreras after filing a records request through Missouri’s Sunshine Law.
Contreras was shot by Officer Jacob Ramsey in June 2014 after police say Contreras ran when officers tried to question him about an attempted robbery. Ramsey had said he thought Contreras was reaching for a gun when he fired his gun. A grand jury in 2015 returned felony assault and armed criminal action charges against Ramsey, but a prosecutor later dropped the charges, saying she didn’t believe she could get a conviction.
Contreras sued, alleging police brutality, and in 2018, Kansas City police commissioners agreed to settle.
“We felt that this was in the best interest of the department and all of its stakeholders,” Capt. David Jackson, a police spokesman, said. “We are attempting to be good stewards of taxpayers’ money.”
Jackson did not say if Ramsey faced discipline. Ramsey still works for the police department and is assigned to its investigations bureau.
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