Opinion ID: 163456
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Reported Assault on May 19, 1998

Text: On the evening of May 19, 1998, the plaintiff Rosemary Price called the Topeka Police Department to report that a teenage neighbor had exposed himself to her and made an obscene remark. The Topeka Police Department also received -2- a call reporting that Mr. Price had assaulted a teenager. During the call, the dispatcher heard gunshots in the background. Based on that information, several officers, including the defendants, proceeded to the Prices’ home and the surrounding neighborhood. At a gas station down the street from the Prices’ home, Officer Cochran encountered five teenage boys and a woman named Bawdi Edgett. He interviewed Ms. Edgett and the two oldest boys—Antonio and Mike Thomas. Ms. Edgett told Officer Cochran that she had gone to the Prices’ neighbors’ house to pick up the teenagers. There, Mr. Price had started yelling at them, telling Antonio Thomas that he wanted to fight him. After Mike Thomas told Mr. Price that he would not allow Mr. Price to fight Antonio, Mr. Price hit Mike in the jaw. Antonio then grabbed a cooler and struck Mr. Price in the head, and the brothers began throwing rocks at Mr. Price. According to Ms. Edgett, Mr. Price yelled that he “had something for them.” Rec. doc. 143 (Cochran report at 2). Ms. Edgett then heard a gunshot behind her. She turned around and saw Mr. Price pointing a gun in their direction and firing two shots. Officer Cochran then interviewed Antonio and Mike Thomas. The Thomas brothers gave a similar account but reported that Mr. Price had fired three shots into the air rather than pointing the gun directly at them. See id. The teenagers subsequently repeated the same version of events to Officer Grayson. -3- Officer Wempe interviewed two neighbors—Allen and Adrian Perkins— who corroborated significant aspects of Ms. Edgett’s and the Thomas brothers’ account. Both men reported that he heard the disturbance and saw Mr. Price walk into the street and fire a pistol twice in the air. See id. (Wempe affidavit, at 2). Officer Pat McLaughlin interviewed Rocky Chilson, another neighbor of the Prices. Mr. Chilson reported that he had not seen Mr. Price with a gun, but he explained that he had been inside his house when he heard gunshots. Officer McLaughlin also interviewed the Prices. They denied that Mr. Price had fired a gun. Mrs. Price added that they did not have a gun in the house. In an affidavit submitted in response to the defendants’ motion for summary judgment, Mrs. Price stated that it was Mike Thomas who had fired the gun at her. Rec doc. 149, attach. 30, at 4. Officer Grayson then placed Mr. Price under arrest for aggravated assault and battery. After the Prices refused consent to search their house for a gun, Officer Grayson transported Mr. Price to the Shawnee County jail. Officer Cochran prepared an affidavit in support of a search warrant, obtained approval from an assistant district attorney, and presented the warrant application to the