KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City, Kansas, man is facing charges for his role in a police pursuit that ended in a crash Tuesday at Independence and Indiana avenues.
Jackson County prosecutors have charged Jorge A. Castrejon, 26, with aggravated fleeing a stop or detention and first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle.
Around 1 p.m. Monday, the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department responded to a stolen auto call at Gary Crossley Ford, located at 8050 N. Church Road.
The fleet director stated two vehicles were stolen, and one vehicle on the property was damaged over the weekend. The vehicles were last seen around noon on March 5, per court documents.
Two of the three vehicles still belonged to the dealership, and the third vehicle, a blue 2026 Ford Explorer, belonged to the KC Board of Police Commissioners.
One of the dealership’s vehicles was stolen, and the other was damaged. KCPD recovered the dealership's stolen vehicle on Monday.
The Ford belonging to the BOPC was the only one still missing as of Monday.
Around 9:45 a.m. Tuesday, the KCPD SWAT Team joined a pursuit out of Kansas near East 10th Street and Indiana Avenue. The Kansas Highway Patrol had been pursuing a blue Ford Explorer for an aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer charge.
During the pursuit, the driver, Castrejon, committed multiple traffic violations, including refusing to stop at a stop sign, fleeing in the incorrect travel lanes, leaving the roadway and speeding — reaching speeds of about 20–50 mph in a residential area, according to a probable cause statement.
SWAT officers attempted a tactical vehicle intervention (TVI) near Independence and Bales avenues, but the fleeing vehicle hit the brakes. This allowed police to see the man driving the Ford and a woman in the front passenger seat.
As the Ford attempted to turn onto Indiana Avenue from Independence Avenue, it hit a storm drain, and the wheel of the vehicle got tangled with a phone pole wire, causing it to flip and hit a building.
The man, Castrejon, and the woman were taken into custody following the crash.
The woman, who said she and Castrejon had been together since 2015, told police she was unaware the Ford was stolen and that Castrejon didn’t have his own vehicle, per a probable cause statement.
Castrejon remains in custody on a $50,000, cash-only bond.
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