Charges Dropped Against Kansas City Security-Firm Owner Who Claimed Self-Defense in Shooting
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Criminal charges have been dropped against the owner of a Kansas City, Missouri-based security company who says he shot a man in self-defense last March. Sidney Kile, who owns SK Security, said he was leaving his office near East 12th and McGee streets on March 31 with his girlfriend when the pair found a stranger sitting in his vehicle outside.
Kile, who is licensed to carry a firearm, drew a weapon and ordered the man to get out of the vehicle.
According to court documents, the stranger exited the vehicle and started to walk away, but Kile alleges that he turned and ran at him and his girlfriend after he said police had been called. Kile, who lives in Olathe, said he believed the man was running at them in a “threatening manner,” so he opened fire. It’s unclear what happened to the man who was shot, but he apparently survived.
After initially declining to file charges, the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office filed two felony charges against Kile in May, first-degree assault with serious physical injury and armed criminal action.
A motion hearing in Kile’s case, which was scheduled for Friday, was canceled as was the jury trial, which was set to begin Monday, after the shooting victim stopped cooperating with prosecutors.
“We needed the victim to appear and testify at trial, but he made clear to us that he would not,” the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said in a statement. “We had no choice but to dismiss.”
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