Wichita police officer deleting emails when he fatally hit pedestrian, report says

A Wichita police officer was driving and deleting emails on his work computer when he fatally hit a pedestrian in a road in southwest Wichita on Feb. 17, according to a Kansas Highway Patrol report.

The accident happened at 7:54 p.m. in the 1300 block of West MacArthur. The officer was on duty driving east in marked 2023 Ford Explorer. He hit Jeffrey Moss of Wichita with the front driver’s side of the SUV; there was also damage along the driver’s side of the vehicle, the report says.

The 51-year-old died at the scene.

Moss was not in a crosswalk, the KHP report says, and was wearing a dark flannel, black hat and blue jeans when the accident happened.

“Contributing factors associated with this collision include Moss wearing dark clothing, while highly intoxicated in a low light environment, actively walking northbound across the eastbound travel lanes of Macarthur,” the report says. “The area Moss was walking across Macarthur was not designed or intended for pedestrians to utilize for crossing. (The officer) failing to observe and/or recognize a pedestrian within the roadway ... (and) under his own admission reported deleting emails on his Wichita Police Department issued (computer). That computer usage can be seen in the body worn camera footage leading up to the collision with Moss.”

Additionally, body cam footage from the 29-year-old officer, who has been with the department since January 2021, shows the driver of a pickup truck slowing and making a “route deviation” from the outside lane to the center turning lane “seemingly to avoid” hitting Moss, the report says.

That happened about seven to eight seconds before the officer hit Moss in the inside lane.

A KHP lieutenant interviewed the officer on Feb. 29 and asked him to “explain what he was doing leading up to the collision based on a review of his WPD issued body worn camera video,” according to the KHP report.

The officer said that “the initial screen shown was the dispatch screen, and the next screen was his department email,” the report says.

The lieutenant “informed (the officer) that it appeared he was deleting or moving an email. (The officer) said he was deleting one or two emails,” the report says.

On Sept. 17, the KHP denied a request for all the video involved in the accident, saying it was part of a criminal investigation record.

In an Oct. 3 statement, Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office deputy DA Aaron Breitenbach said there was “insufficient evidence of criminal liability on the part of the officer involved. As a result, no charges will be filed.”

The SUV did not have any dashcam and the officer was not responding to any calls when the accident happened, the report says.

Moss, who was a father and grandfather , died at the scene.

“He enjoyed grilling out with friends and family, playing poker, going outside for walks, and most of all, watching football, he loved the Kansas City Chiefs,” according to his obituary. “He had an exceptional work ethic, he never missed a day.”