Shauna Renno's daughter 14-month-old daughter died in late December of 2006, and a few days later she and the girl's father were in Independence, trying to bury their daughter.
But according to a lawsuit filed by Renno, and unearthed by the Star's Tony Rizzo, two Kansas City police officers barreled into the funeral, shoved the baby's father into a mound of dirt, mistakenly detained him, delayed the funeral and said the couple's daughter was "better off dead with parents like them."
The lawsuit (which you can download here) was filed in Jackson County but moved to federal court. It accuses two officers, Michael Sartain and Ryan Bonner, of ignoring police-conduct rules, intentionally inflicting emotional stress, and generally being all-around dicks. It also names the KCMO board of police commissioners, two unnamed Independence police officers and the city of Independence.
The incident appears to have happened on December 22, 2006 (although the lawsuit later says it was in 2007.) Renno was attending the funeral of her daughter, Kaylee, at Mount Washington Forever Funeral Home and Cemetery in Independence, along with her fiancee, Mark Zahnd, who was the girl's father, .
As they tried to dump dirt onto their daughter's casket, the two officers approached the grave site and shoved Zahnd into the dirt, the lawsuit contends. They then handcuffed Zahnd, thinking they were arresting Renno's brother, James Renno.
Despite please from the family and funeral home director -- who told the cops they were arresting the wrong guy -- they kept Zahnd in cuffs and refused to let him return to the funeral until he helped locate and arrest Renno, the lawsuit alleges. In the meantime, it says, the cops said they "didn't care about their daughter ... dying by 'wrapping around a pole.'"
The lawsuit also accuses the police department of not properly training officers to conduct themselves during funerals. It asks for at least $150,000 in damages.
The police board asked a judge to dismiss the case against them, while the two officers denied the allegations. No trial date has been set.
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It's very true I am Wendy Zahnd Kaylee's Aunt and Mark Zahnd is my brother. Those bastards did exactly what the article says. Laying my 1 year old niece to rest was the hardest worst day of my life and they stole something from my brother he can never get back...burying his only daughter!
Hi anonymous. two words: fuck you! You are one of the whiniest bitches I ever heard. Maybe you should not have bullied them in high school to make them angry later in life. Therefore, maybe it is your fault they are so pissed off.
I am not willing to say police are heroes, in my mind, a hero is someone who risks their life for free, pure altruism. Yes, assholes who think all military people are heroes, guess what, they are paid to do their job (I am a veteran, so fuck off with your comments).
Back to anonymous, the police might not be heroes per se, however, they have a tough job keeping all of you fucking, asshole druggies and law breakers in line. When will you people just follow the law? I cannot remember the philosopher who said it, but an unjust law is not a law. Hence, when you find an unjust law, break the law all day long. Otherwise, if people hate the cops so much, OBEY THE FUCKING LAW and maybe we can quit putting more and more police on the street.
In conclusion, druggies, speeders, red light runners, thieves, murderers, wife beaters, child abusers, and the rest of you indigent motherfuckers, quit fucking breaking the law! You moralists who feel a law in unjust, break it and see if America agrees with you.
About 10 years ago, a carload of drunk teens crossed all three lanes of SW trafficway at 39...right in front of me, so I hit them. i was coming home from waiting tables at chilis in westport. It was a friday night, about midnight. The kid driving asked the cop to take a piss, b/c he really had to go. Cop didn't give them sobriety test or anything. He seemed to think it was funny. Meanwhile, my car was practically totalled from hitting a 1972 boat filled with 5 teens. Love the KCPD.
So many pigs are just f'n worthless pieces of shit taking their revenge out on the world. They got shoved in lockers and pissed on in high-school, now they have a badge and they're tough guys. If they were intellilgent enough to do something else for a living they would. I just don't understand why so many people consider a cop to be a f'n hero. These pieces of shit should face some serious consequences like getting fired and having to find a real job.
KCPD as an organization has been under performing for years.
Time to reconsider our Police Management.
City Hall should get involved.
The Crime rate in Kansas City has been unacceptable for years.
You want to beleive these people but please don't settle out of court. Let the facts come out. If true it's time to rethink the police board's membership and get rid of not only the cops in question but hold their superiors liable also. They hold the key when it comes to cop training.
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