‘Our department is hurting’: Kansas City police officer killed in crash identified

Kansas City Police Officer James Muhlbauer was identified as the victim of a fatal crash that unfolded Wednesday while he was patrolling with his K-9 police dog.

The crash occurred about 10:15 p.m. when the officer’s patrol car was hit by another vehicle near Truman Road and Benton Boulevard. The impact caused a secondary collision with a pedestrian, said Sgt. Jake Becchina, a police department spokesman.

The pedestrian, a man in his 50s, was declared dead at the scene. Muhlbauer, a 20 year veteran of the department, was taken to a hospital where he died. Muhlbauer had spent his career in the patrol division, including the past three years with the K-9 unit.

“Preliminarily, this was not on the fault of the officer,” Police Chief Stacey Graves said at a news conference Thursday.

Muhlbauer’s friends and family knew him as “Jim.”

His police dog, Champ, was also killed in the crash. Champ had been on the force for one year. Police canines live with their police officer partners.

“The officers were serving and protecting this city,” Graves said. “They were putting themselves in harms way. They were being public servants the city needs. And in the moment we lost them. Our department is hurting. We’re sad and we’re shaken.”

Muhlbauer was married and a father.

“Please keep them in your prayers,” Graves said, noting a child had lost his “best friend.”

North Kansas City police officers transported Champ to the hospital to be reunited with Muhlbauer.

“Together both Officer Muhlbauer and Canine Champ were given a heroes’ escort,” Graves said.

The driver of the vehicle that hit the police car was injured and in police custody. Graves said they are investigating possible impairment. After the investigation is completed, the case will be submitted to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office.

Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said her office worked closely with Muhlbauer on a quintuple homicide. In 2014, he arrested Brandon Howell, who was later convicted of five counts of first-degree murder.

“It is a shared, heavy mark for all of us this morning,” Peters Baker said.

In a message posted to Twitter, Mayor Quinton Lucas said the city is grieving for the officer, the pedestrian and the police dog.

“This morning, our city mourns the loss of life of a twenty-year veteran of the Kansas City Police Department, along with an innocent civilian and a canine officer,” Lucas wrote. “My prayers are with the families and friends of those we have lost and all of the women and men of law enforcement.”

Outside KCPD Headquarters, a patrol car is parked, flowers adorning its windshield in honor of the officers.

KCPD invites citizens to pay their respects for Champ and Muhlbauer.