KANSAS CITY, Mo. — More than 30 forgery charges against the owner of a Kansas City, Missouri, tow truck company were dismissed because of an audio recording involving the head of the police union, the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office announced Tuesday.
In February 2017, the prosecutor's office began investigating Allen T. Bloodworth for 31 counts of forgery.
Court documents reveal that between April 7, 2017, and Nov. 17, 2017, Bloodworth was accused of committing forgery, a Class D Felony.
Previous reporting by 41 Action News revealed Bloodworth and his employees were accused of illegally towing abandoned vehicles from private property.
Court documents alleged throughout those eight months, Bloodworth or his employees completed a state-required Department of Revenue form that requires the name of a property or security manager who is authoring and witnessing the tow.
Those charges, which have now been dismissed, were filed in September 2019.
Don Ross, Bloodworth's attorney, told 41 Action News Bloodworth and he are delighted that the charges were dropped.
"I was surprised it was that quick. I expected it at some point. But the the timing was, I think went coincidental with some information that the prosecutor's office identified, in addition to the tape recording that my office had provided to the prosecutor's office," Ross said.
According to newly filed court documents, Bloodworth presented a phone recording of a conversation he had with KCPD Sgt. Brad Lemon, president of the Fraternal Order of Police.
In the recording from 2019, provided by the prosecutor's office, Lemon can be heard discussing the towing of his niece's car.
Bloodworth tells Lemon the vehicle can only be released to the registered owner or someone designated by the owner. The court documents state Lemon did not have proof of designation.
"So, didn't we investigate you at property crimes a couple years ago for felonies for doing stuff like this?" Lemon asks Bloodworth in the recording.
The prosecutor's office said the words uttered next amounted to a threat against Bloodworth.
"It’s game on, we’ll start the same routine with you then," Lemon said in part in the recording presented.
Shortly after, Lemon mentioned his position with the police union.
The full recording was not released by the Jackson County Prosecutor's Office.
"The clear implication was that, if Defendant refused to give Mr. Lemon the car, Mr. Lemon would use his influence in the police department and union to bring law enforcement action against Defendant," the notice of dismissal from the prosecutor's office reads.
"Mr. Lemon’s words, invoked in the name of KCPD and the Fraternal Order of Police, combined with his documented receipt of information regarding defendant, undermines the integrity of the investigation, exposes all officers in this case to accusations of substantial partiality, and negatively impacts the credibility of the State’s evidence and the testimony of its primary witnesses," Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said in the notice of dismissal. "This matter has been referred to law enforcement for further review."
Ross said that an independent professional investigation should occur as it relates to police departments, and there is "no room for personal bias or interest."
"We think once we gave the information to the prosecutor's office, and again, I'm referring to the notice of dismissal – It's a fairly long memo from the prosecutor's office – But they believe the entire investigation regarding all 31 counts that were dismissed today, were compromised," Ross said. "And any officer involved in that investigation is subject to being criticized or impeached, we would say, because of the email that is incomplete, because apparently Mr. Lemon was having some kind of contact with officers involved in the investigation."
While the conversations might have been "innocuous," according to Ross, the fact that they occurred was noteworthy.
"You [have] to have an unbiased, independent, non-personal investigation," Ross said, "and that apparently is not what was occurring here."
However, Ross said that Kansas City, Missouri, has a "great police department."
"I used to be a prosecutor. I'm now a defense attorney. Our police officers are good, but not all of them," he said. "And there does need to be some accountability. If things were improperly done in this case, I'm confident that Jean Peters Baker, her office, the mayor and the command staff at the police department will make necessary changes. And if there's parties that need to suffer consequences, they will."
41 Action News has reached out to Brad Lemon but is still awaiting a response.
In statement from the the Kansas City Fraternal Order of Police, a spokesperson said, "The FOP was just made aware of this situation. We have no comment."
In a statement from KCPD, Capt. David Jackson said: "To be clear, today was the first time we were made aware of our member being involved in the decision to drop charges. This will be investigated."
The Jackson County Prosecutor's Office said it would not comment further on the matter at this time.
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