KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department has identified the male pedestrian who was killed in the same crash that took KCPD Police Officer James Muhlbauer and his K-9 partner's lives on Wednesday night.
The pedestrian killed in the crash has been identified as Jesse Eckes, 52.
At around 10:15 p.m. Wednesday, Eckes was sitting on the concrete traffic signal island near Truman Road and Benton Boulevard.
Muhlbauer was driving a marked blue Ford Crown Victoria on eastbound Truman Road near the Benton Boulevard intersection, when the driver of a white Ford Fusion traveling southbound on Benton at high speeds did not stop for the red traffic light and struck Muhlbauer's vehicle.
Eckes was then struck by the collision and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Muhlbauer's K-9 partner Champ, who was traveling in the Ford Crown Victoria, also died on the scene.
Muhlbauer was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The driver of the white Ford Fusion sustained minor injuries in the crash and was taken into custody by police pending further investigation.
Muhlbauer served with KCPD for 20 years and worked in the K-9 unit for the past three years.
He arrested Brandon Howell in 2014 after he murdered five members of a south Kansas City neighborhood in 2014.
A visitation and funeral service for Muhlbauer and Champ will be held Wednesday, Feb. 22.
