More than two weeks after six men severely beat an Army captain on the Country Club Plaza, no arrests have been made, and the case remains under investigation by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department.
The captain remains on-base at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., after being transported there following treatment at St. Luke’s Hospital for several injuries, including optic nerve damage, a skull fracture and air on the brain.
The 37-year-old man was attacked by a group of six black males Sept. 19 after leaving Zocalo Mexican restaurant, where he was having dinner with two people.
Soldier, two friends injured in assault
Those two friends tried to jump in to help and suffered minor injuries. They were treated at the scene.
The incident came to light a week later, with police saying they were investigating it as an aggravated assault situation.
One of the possible suspects left his tab open and a debit card at the Mexican restaurant when the suspects fled the scene.
Police have not said whether that card led to any fruitful leads.
Prosecutor's Office: Case not forwarded to them yet
Public information officers for the Kansas City Police Department addressed the investigation in a news conference setting each morning last week, but would only say the investigation is ongoing.
The spokesman for the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office said the case has not yet been forwarded to them from police.
Police will often make an arrest or arrests in a case before forwarding evidence to the prosecutor’s office for official criminal charges, although prosecutors may file charges without an arrest having taken place.
The Army captain and one of his friends who was with him that night are at Fort Leavenworth for a 12-week qualification course. They came to the base from Fort Totten in New York and serve in the Army Reserve 151st Theater Information Operations Group, according to officials with Fort Leavenworth.
The captain’s family was called in following the incident, and they met him back at the base as he was examined by on-base medical personnel Sept. 28.
Army officials have not updated the captain’s status since then, deferring all questions to the Kansas City Police Department.
Family: Soldier was targeted by suspects
One of the captain’s family members briefly spoke with 41 Action News on Sept. 29, saying the family believed the captain was targeted for being a member of the military.
They did not mention what may have given him away as being with the Army. An incident report from police states the man was out of uniform at the time of the incident.
Police said one of the captains and another man had accidentally bumped into one another inside the restaurant on 48th Street.
The man was kicked out by restaurant management. When the captain later left the restaurant, he was met by the man and five others who appeared to be looking for a fight.
The man punched the soldier, according to police. The other five individuals then piled on and began punching and kicking the soldier while he was on the ground.
The Mexican restaurant had no cameras that caught footage of the incident. Plaza security attempted to find other footage from outside of the restaurant that might show the confrontation, but did not find any such footage.
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41 Action News Digital Assignment Editor Shain Bergan appeared this week on the Steve Sutton's radio program on 710 AM.
Here's the full interview:
