Wichita cop was ‘relentlessly working to conduct surveillance’ on ex, documents say

A Wichita police officer is accused of “relentlessly working to conduct surveillance” of his 39-year-old ex-girlfriend over a period of several months, according to a court document released Tuesday.

Officer Joshua Price was arrested in October on suspicion of stalking and misdemeanor official misconduct. The department said Price is a 21-year veteran. He has been released from jail.

The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office began investigating Price on Oct. 18, the document says.

The woman told investigators that she and Price were in a relationship from April 2016 to July 2017, but she was unaware that Price was married for the majority of their relationship and that his four children lived with their mother, the document says.

In July 2017, “she became irritated by the police presence that came with dating Price,” the document says. Price made arrangements for the woman, whose name was redacted from the documents, to move into a home that was owned by a friend of his.

The document says that Price got jealous by the woman rekindling her friendship with another man and on Aug. 14, Price and another officer went to the address and told her she had four days to move out. That man’s name was also redacted.

She moved, and soon noticed an increase of Wichita police officers in the area. The document says she chose her new address because it wasn’t where Price patrolled, but he was able to find her.

On Oct. 17, she filed a protection from abuse order against Price.

“He has me scared and i fear for my life,” she wrote in the petition. “I moved and he followed to see where i moved to.”

In May or June, she said, she broke her arm. It healed, “and he broke it again after being physically violent,” she wrote.

“He has threatened my life as well,” she wrote in the petition.

Allegations of physical abuse weren’t mentioned in the newly released affidavit.

During the investigation, deputies found that “Price was relentlessly working to conduct surveillance” on the woman and two other people whose names were redacted from the document. They were only identified as men ages 38 and 57.

Price is also accused of asking several Wichita police officers to assist him in following the women and/or the men.

Another officer stopped a vehicle and wrote the male driver a ticket, later saying it was done at Price’s request. Price made similar requests to other officers, the document says. Deputies watched body-camera footage from the stop and say the officer “appears to be nervous, dropping documents and stumbling over his words.”

The document says the officer knew who the driver was, but acted as if he didn’t during the stop. When the stop ended and the driver left, he saw Price parked a block away, the document says.

That officer also told investigators of other instances where Price “seemed obsessed” with taking enforcement action against the two men, even saying he’d take him and his wife out for dinner if the officer could “get him,” the document says.

Two other Wichita police officers were placed on paid administrative leave following Price’s arrest.

This story was originally published January 23, 2018 at 2:35 PM with the headline "Wichita cop was ‘relentlessly working to conduct surveillance’ on ex, documents say."