No charges in Pizza Hut driver crash that killed woman stopped for funeral procession

A Pizza Hut driver who rear-ended a sport-utility vehicle waiting for a funeral procession in Wichita earlier this year won’t face felony charges.

Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett told The Eagle in a recent email that an investigation into the crash that killed 59-year-old Karen Capps and injured her 86-year-old mother in February “revealed insufficient evidence to support the elements of any felony.” Therefore, “no felony charges will be filed in this matter,” Bennett said.

Wichita police presented their findings in the case to Bennett’s office on July 12 — nearly six months after the fatal collision at 119th West and Beaumont, which is by Resthaven Cemetery. Bennett said the case may be referred to Wichita Municipal Court so prosecutors there can decide whether to pursue charges for any traffic violations that might have occurred.

It wasn’t immediately clear Wednesday whether that had happened.

Karen Capps and her mother, Jaunita Capps, had just left Resthaven after laying flowers on a relative’s grave and were stopped along the side of the road waiting for a funeral procession to pass when they were hit by a minivan on Feb. 17.

A 31-year-old man, Courtney G. Clodfelter, was driving. The impact pushed the women’s SUV into an electric pole. Karen Capps died on site. Her mother survived but suffered six broken ribs.

Karen Capps’ son, newly appointed Kansas House Rep. Michael Capps, last month filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit seeking more than $75,000 in damages from Clodfelter and his employer, Pizza Hut of Southeast Kansas. The suit contends Pizza Hut’s promise of delivering hot food quickly to customers so the company can make “a higher profit in a shorter amount of time” leads to dangerous driving practices by its drivers.

In a June 29 written response to the suit, attorneys for Pizza Hut denied the allegations and said the family is “only entitled to reasonable value of medical services” determined by a jury, if they sustained any damages.

Clodfelter, in a response filed by his attorney, acknowledged that he was working when the crash happened but said he “lacks a memory” of the day’s events.

This story was originally published July 25, 2018 at 5:01 PM.