DA: No charges against deputy who shot and killed Kansas woman during police chase

No criminal charges will be filed against a sheriff’s deputy who shot and killed a woman at the conclusion of a 19-minute police chase.

District Attorney Marc Bennett on Thursday announced his decision in the Dec. 30, 2019, shooting death of Debra Arbuckle.

Arbuckle, 51, of Andover, died when a Sedgwick County sheriif’s deputy shot her in the head during an early-morning chase that started with a tag violation. Her vehicle had been forced to the curb, and the deputy was standing behind the car when it reversed toward him and the 26-year-old deputy said he feared for his life and the lives of fellow deputies.

Bennett said the deputy is immune from prosecution, under the so-called “stand your ground” law in Kansas, because he was defending himself or another person. The law grants broad immunity to people who claim their actions were in self-defense or the defense of others.

“I am simply limited by the criminal laws of the state of Kansas,” Bennett said, noting a recent court case upholding immunity protections.

“The question here is not whether the deputy had to do what he did or should have done what he did or could have done something differently,” Bennett continued. “The question is do I have evidence that would establish that he did not believe personally that what he did was necessary or that a person of the same circumstances, a reasonable person, would not have believed it was necessary when faced with a car that is revving up and put in reverse in line with deputies who are there around the car on foot.”

Bennett had no comment on the ongoing civil case. His review was limited to potential criminal liability.

“It is unfortunate anytime someone is injured or killed in a use of force event,” former department spokesman Lt. Tim Myers said in a statement the day of the incident. “The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office extends sympathy to the members of Arbuckle’s family.”

The family has filed a federal wrongful death lawsuit against the deputy.

“We’re certainly disappointed that Deputy Kaleb Dailey isn’t facing a homicide charge in the death of Debra Arbuckle,” said Michael Kuckelman, the attorney representing Debra Arbuckle’s son, Alek Hansen. “We wholeheartedly disagree with today’s decision.”

Dailey’s lawyers have asked the judge to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing he is entitled to qualified immunity. Kuckelman said he was surprised by the timing of Bennett’s announcement, considering Dailey was deposed in the civil case last week and the transcript is not yet available.

“It’s important to bear in mind that the only reason they were pursuing Debra Arbuckle was that she had the wrong license plate on her vehicle,” Kuckelman said. “Never should a traffic violation involving a license plate escalate to using deadly force.”

Bennett’s 19-page report, featuring interviews with several law enforcement officers involved in the case, found that an issue with the vehicle registration started the series of events.

It started early that Sunday morning, at around 3:12 a.m., when a Wichita police officer saw a gray Volkswagen car stopped at the intersection of Kellogg Drive and Fabrique. A check of the license plate revealed the tag was registered to a Chevy pickup, the DA’s report found.

Dispatchers at some point said the Tennessee tag on the car had been reported stolen, according to court records.

An attempted traffic stop turned into a pursuit, with the driver running a red light at Kellogg and Oliver. The car sped 80 mph on westbound Kellogg before traveling 90 mph southbound on I-135. The chase was then called off by a WPD supervisor due to the excessive speeds.

The police officer lost sight of the vehicle, but a sheriff’s deputy who responded to the area spotted it. The driver pulled a U-turn and sped away from the deputy. A second chase then started and involved at least four deputies.

Bennett’s report states the second pursuit lasted 19 minutes traveling from southeast Wichita into Butler County and back into Sedgwick County. The vehicle ran through red lights and stop signs, at times traveling in excess of 100 mph on arterial streets in southeast Wichita and 120 mph outside city limits.

Dailey was not initially part of the second chase, the DA’s report found. But when he heard radio traffic about the pursuit, he sped across Wichita on Kellogg in excess of 100 mph to join the chase.

In federal court documents, Dailey said he was the only deputy on duty that night with certification in tactical vehicle interventions. The DA report said the supervisor on duty that night described Dailey as “the most successful” TVI deputy and “by far the best on patrol right now.” At the time, he had about four years of experience on patrol and had previously worked at the jail for about a year.

Dailey took over as the lead pursuit vehicle, driving a Dodge Charger. As he chased, the Volkswagen hit a set of spike strips at 100 mph. That slowed the car to 90 mph, according to reports.

The car hit a second set of spikes, and rubber from one of the tires came off the car as it continued driving on the rim.

Dailey twice performed TVIs. The maneuvers spun the fleeing car around, but were otherwise ineffective at ending the chase. The deputy performed a third TVI as the vehicle headed into a residential area. He told investigators he was concerned about the safety of residents in the area, noting that the vehicle had previously driven through a yard earlier in the chase.

The third attempt pushed the car against the curb, with the supervisor saying Dailey appeared to have tried to pin the vehicle in. With the car stopped, Dailey got out, expecting the driver to get out and run.

But that’s not what happened.

Dailey approached with his gun drawn, wary of the potential for cross-fie with deputies closing in from three sides, the DA’s report states.

The car’s engine was revving as the driver shifted to reverse, but it wasn’t moving. The rubber-stripped tire rim was slipping against the curb. Then the car accelerated backwards toward Dailey and a second deputy.

“I got scared that, not only I was going to get run over, but even more so that my partner next to me was going to,” he said, according to the DA’s report.

Dailey fired six shots and didn’t stop shooting until he saw the vehicle stop backing up, according to court records. When deputies moved in, they discovered Arbuckle did not have a pulse. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

An autopsy determined that Arbuckle died from a gunshot wound to the head that tore through the spinal cord. She had also been hit in the thigh and chest. A toxicology report found cocaine, cocaethylene and benzoylecgonine in her blood.

“No other officer on the scene fired a single shot,” said Kuckelman, the family lawyer. “That’s because Ms. Arbuckle wasn’t a threat to them. Her front wheel didn’t even have a tire on it. They rammed her car, ran it off the road, and they surrounded it with their cars. The officers weren’t in danger. In fact, the Wichita Police Department had already called off pursuit.

“Eluding an officer doesn’t warrant deadly force.”

At least two other law enforcement officers at the scene indicated an intent to shoot at the vehicle, perceiving it as an imminent threat, according to Bennett’s investigation.

“I wanted to shoot,” said the other deputy closest to being in the path of the car. “I wanted to fire my gun because I thought he was ‘gonna run one of us over.”

The deputy told investigators he decided against shooting, saying he was uncomfortable because he didn’t know exactly where another deputy was. Instead, he yelled to watch out.

The supervising sergeant, who authorized the use of spike strips and TVI, told investigators he feared that his deputies would get hit by the vehicle. He did not have a clear shot, so he was going to reposition himself “to basically end this pursuit or end this threat of this individual hitting these two deputies.”

A police officer at the scene said of the car, “it’s not like going slow. It’s a deliberate act back towards the (deputies), and if it hits somebody it’s ‘gonna hurt ‘em or kill ‘em.”

This story was originally published May 13, 2021 at 2:43 PM.