KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two people have been charged in connection with an hour-long police chase Tuesday in Kansas City, Missouri.
Lucy Batcheller, 20, of Liberty, and Darius Butler, 20, of Kansas City, Missouri, both faces charges of resisting arrest by fleeing in Jackson County Court. Both had a a cash-only bond set at $7,500.
Officers responded shortly before 4 p.m. Tuesday to a shots fired call near East 58th Street and Prospect Avenue, where they located a black Volkswagen Jetta with bullet holes. Police dispatch also received calls of a “rolling disturbance” between the Jetta and a silver Ford Fiesta.
When police activated the lights and siren on a marked vehicle, the Jetta, driven by Batcheller, “initially appeared to stop,” but continued northbound on Blue Ridge Boulevard, according to charging documents.
Batcheller drove erratically, according to a probable cause statement, and attempted to run a red light at East 87th Street and Blue Ridge Boulevard, when she crashed into two vehicles at the stop light. She continued driving and was pulled over at 8708 Manchester Avenue, where she and a passenger were taken into custody.
Officers located the Ford Fiesta, driven by Butler, near East 105th Street and Corrington Avenue, and when police activated lights and sirens, the vehicle proceeded northbound from East 105th Street and Blue Ridge Boulevard, driving erratically through residential areas and not obeying traffic stops, according to a probable cause statement.
Stop sticks were deployed at East 87th Street and Interstate 435, and the driver of the Fiesta, identified as Butler, pulled over at Oldham Road. Butler and two passengers were taken into custody.
Batchellor told police that while sitting at a red light near U.S. 71 and Meyer Boulevard, a female driver and a male passenger in the vehicle stopped next to her “kept looking over at her.”
“Batcheller saw them stick a gun out of the window of the vehicle and begin shooting at her vehicle,” according to the probable cause statement. “Batcheller stated she accelerated and drove away quickly from the location.”
She said she did not return fire and did not see if the passenger in her vehicle returned fire.
Batcheller said, according to the document, that she blacked out and does not remember anything other than the crash itself. An AR rifle was located in her vehicle’s trunk, but Batecheller said she did not know who it belongs to or that it was in the vehicle.
Butler said he was driving his girlfriend’s vehicle near 58th and Prospect when he saw people in two vehicles in front of him shooting at each other, according to a probable cause statement. He told police, according to the document, that he was not involved in the shooting other than “partially witnessing the incident.”
