Former Kansas Highway Patrol trooper loses license after stealing from Walmarts
A former Kansas Highway Patrol trooper and Kansas National Guard chaplain was stripped of his law enforcement license after shoplifting from Topeka Walmart stores while on duty and wearing his KHP and military uniforms.
Mark Leenerts was employed by the Kansas Highway Patrol from July 11, 2018 to Sept. 26, 2023, according to a summary order of revocation from the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and Training released last month.
A February 2021 Facebook post from the Kansas Air National Guard shows Leenerts being sworn in as a chaplain.
Leenerts was charged October 2023 and pleaded guilty in August 2024 to two counts of misdemeanor theft and one count of official misconduct. He was sentenced to 12 months of probation, court records show.
An attorney listed for Leenerts did not respond to an email seeking comment for this story.
The KHP said Leenerts resigned from the agency.
“Upon being confronted with allegations of theft, Mark Leenerts was placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation,” KHP spokesperson April McCollum said in an email. “He chose to resign from his position with the Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP), rather than participate in the internal affairs process.”
An affidavit gave this account:
A Walmart asset protection employee contacted the Topeka Police Department in August 2023 regarding shoplifting by Leenerts at two Topeka Walmart stores multiple times between June and September 2023.
A Topeka officer went to one of the stores and learned that some of the thefts occurred while Leenerts was wearing his KHP or military uniform.
A Topeka detective was assigned the case and was given receipts and video footage to investigate. The detective observed Leenerts did not pay for some items by using “skip scanning,” where someone scans items faster than the self-checkout system can read.
The detective compared receipts to items Leenerts put in his bag while at the self-checkout. Investigators tallied up $317.88 worth of stolen merchandise over 13 instances of theft, six at one store, and seven at the other.
In two instances he was in his KHP uniform with his service gun on his hip. Three other times he was wearing his military uniform.
The items stolen included Hawaiian rolls, M&M’s, Oreos, Lunchables, Gatorade and deodorant among other things.