Independence firefighters say they didn’t believe they hit car | Watch full video to see what happened
By Matt Flener
Click here for updates on this story
INDEPENDENCE, Missouri (KMBC) — Independence firefighters told a police officer they did not believe they hit a parked car last Wednesday while making a turn in a cul-de-sac near East 41st Street South and Kerrington Drive, according to an Independence Police Department crash report.
The crash smashed in the front driver’s side of Ashanti Grant’s Toyota Camry, and she is now asking for the Jackson County prosecutor’s office to review what happened. Grant believes the firefighters saw the damage and left the scene.
“They got out and some were approaching already, looked at it and left,” Grant said. “I would appreciate accountability from not just them but the prosecutor in not allowing this to pass as an ‘I didn’t know.'”
Footage from a nearby home’s security camera appears to show a firefighter who helped the truck back up after the impact, reach his hand toward damage on the car after the crash. Another firefighter outside of the truck also appeared to turn his head toward the car as the truck was in the process of turning around.
It is not immediately clear from the video if any firefighters linked the damage on the Camry to the fire truck or heard or saw the crash happen when the back passenger side of the fire truck hit the Toyota Camry’s driver’s side.
The video shows the fire truck pulling out of frame two minutes and 22 seconds after the impact.
CRASH REPORT LISTS “DISTRACTION”
The crash report, obtained by KMBC 9 Investigates in an open records request, listed distraction as a probable contributing circumstance to the crash, confirming Independence Fire Department Truck No. 2 hit the car while turning in a cul-de-sac last week.
The crash narrative, written by Independence Police Officer Brett Schmidli and reviewed by Sgt. Jeff Buck, says IFD personnel told Schmidli “they did not believe they struck the vehicle and left the scene responding back to their station.”
The crash report marks “no” in the category of “left the scene.”
There are no charges against the fire truck driver, identified as Jude Buxton in the crash report, nor any of the other firefighters involved.
KMBC 9 Investigates asked Independence police if the driver of the fire truck reported the crash.
An Independence police technician provided a report on Tuesday showing that officers responded to the firehouse at 5:42 p.m., approximately an hour and forty minutes after the crash.
According to the report, police got called after Grant went to Fire Station Two to ask firefighters what had happened.
A search of police records did not indicate any other records that firefighters reported the crash to police, according to the police technician.
KMBC has asked an Independence police spokeswoman and a City of Independence spokeswoman if firefighters reported the crash and if the case will be forwarded to prosecutors.
A city spokeswoman declined further comment.
Tuesday, an Independence spokeswoman said the city is investigating what happened and has provided Grant with the claims process to get her car repaired. Grant said the city provided the claim information only after KMBC 9 Investigates reached out about the situation.
KMBC is publishing unedited footage of security camera footage before, during, and after the crash to help the public identify the sequence of events.
“Why turn around in a cul-de-sac knowing the length of your vehicle?” Grant said. “The driver’s abilities need to be reevaluated in my opinion.”
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.