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Suspect charged in death of officer, pedestrian, K-9 appears in court

Lightfoot Mug.jpg
Posted at 2:12 PM, Feb 17, 2023
and last updated 2023-02-17 15:47:49-05

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The man charged in the death of a Kansas City, Missouri, police officer, a pedestrian and a police K-9 made his first appearance in court Friday afternoon.

Jerron Allen Lightfoot, 18, appeared Friday before Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Adam Caine, wearing an orange jumpsuit.

After Caine read the charges against Lightfoot, two counts of first-degree involuntary manslaughter, he responded that he planned to hire his own attorney.

At the end of the initial appearance, Caine set Lightfoot's bond at $30,000/10%.

Lightfoot has posted a $3,000 bond, according to court records, but that doesn't mean he'll be set free.

Caine set house arrest as a condition of his bond and Jackson County requires house arrest to take place within county limits for monitoring purposes.

Lightfoot will not be allowed to return to his home in Tonganoxie to stay during his house arrest. He also can't drive or have contact with Muhlbauer's family or any witnesses if and when he's released on bond.

Lightfoot is set to appear back in court on Feb. 27 for a bond review hearing.

The charges stem from an incident on Wednesday night in which Lightfoot allegedly ran a red light at Truman Road while speeding speeds nearly double the posted speed limit. At the intersection, Lightfoot collided with a KCPD patrol car driven by Officer James Muhlbauer.

The collision pinned a pedestrian underneath the wreckage, killing the man in his 50s. Police have not yet identified the pedestrian who died.

Champ, a police K-9 officer in the back seat of Muhlbauer’s patrol car, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Muhlbauer was transported to a nearby hospital where he died from his injuries.

Muhlbauer is the officer who arrested Brandon Howell after he murdered five people in south Kansas City's Woodbridge Community in 2014.