Man says Kansas City officer changed story after rear-ending him

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Jordan Jackson was on his way to work and sitting at stop light in a Lee’s Summit intersection when he suddenly felt his car lurch forward.

“There was a loud thud,” said Jackson, who quickly realized he’d been rear-ended by the vehicle behind him.

He didn’t know anything about the other driver until he got out of his car.

“I was like 'wow,'” Jackson said.

The driver who hit him was a Kansas City police officer in an unmarked Ford F-350. Officer Richard Hulme was the man behind the wheel.

“His initial response was, 'Hey man, I'm sorry,'" Jackson said.

Hulme told the responding Lee’s Summit police officer that he had stepped on the gas when he saw a green light, not realizing the lane he was in was turning left and still had a red light, according to the police report.

That same report also said Hulme was “following too close.” However, Hulme did not receive a ticket.

All that mattered to Jackson was his car. He wanted it repaired, something he said the officer assured him would be taken care of.

But a week later when Jackson called the Kansas City Police Department to find out who to send the $1,800 estimate to, a clerk told him that Hulme was “was denying liability for damages done to his vehicle,” Jackson said.

Jackson said he was told that Hulme was claiming that after he rear-ended Jackson, Jackson then backed up into him.

“I was kind of speechless,” Jackson said. “What sense does it make to put my car in reverse after I got rear ended?”

And why had Hulme never bothered to mention it to the Lee’s Summit police officer who was at the scene? In fact, it wasn’t until three months later that Hulme filed an odd supplemental report with Lee’s Summit police, claiming to also have been a victim.

According to the report, Hulme said after he rear-ended Jackson, Jackson “was revving his engine as if he was backing up but then put the car into park.” Hulme said after he exited his car, he had to separate the two cars. Hulme, though, never uses the word “hit.”

FOX4 Problem Solvers called both Kansas City police and Lee’s Summit police for comment. Both departments referred us to the other agency for comment. Neither ever answered our questions regarding this crash.

Kansas City police also declined our requests to speak to Hulme.

We then showed both police reports to Kansas City attorney Tony Miller, of Troppito Miller Griffin, who has represented many clients involved in traffic accidents. He was surprised by how much the story of the crash changed in the second report.

“This is an odd case to say the least,” said Miller, adding that he would have a hard time defending a client who changed his story so dramatically after the crash.

“Sometimes people make mistakes,” Miller said. “Maybe he forgot to tell the investigator. But it seems like it would be important that if someone was backing into you, rather than you striking them, than that evidence would be given contemporaneous with the incident.”

Jackson said he still doesn’t have the money to repair his car, which he bought just two days before the crash. But he said what really bothers him is his loss of trust in police.

“I guess I'm more disappointed at the fact that the police kind of feel that they can get away with the situation,” he said.