05/19/2026
To the citizens of Independence, here is an update regarding the incident that occurred on May 16, 2026:
Kansas City Missouri Man Charged Following Independence Pursuit and Crash
5/15/2026
A Kansas City man has been charged following a pursuit and crash that occurred in Independence Saturday afternoon.
According to court documents, on Saturday May 16, 2026 at 4:34 p.m., a detective observed a 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe with a rear Texas license plate in the Walmart parking lot at 4000 S. Bolger Road. The vehicle did not have a front license plate. When the detective ran the plate, it came back to a 2013 Hyundai. An officer activated their emergency equipment to conduct a traffic stop at 39th & Bolger, but the vehicle failed to yield. The driver reached speeds of 80 m.p.h. as it traveled west on 39th Street, cutting in and out of traffic. The officer lost sight of the Chevrolet in the area of 35th & Phelps.
At 4:41 p.m., two other officers located the vehicle traveling northbound on Lees Summit Road south of 23rd Street swerving through traffic at a high rate of speed. The officers attempted to stop the Chevrolet but it again failed to yield. A pursuit was then initiated. The vehicle exceeded speeds of 100 m.p.h. in the posted 35 m.p.h. zone. While on Lees Summit Road south of Truman Road, the vehicle drove around a raised median, and began traveling northbound in the southbound lanes of Lees Summit Road. The Chevrolet failed to stop for the red light at Lees Summit Road and Truman Road and collided with a westbound Mitsubishi, causing the Mitsubishi to overturn. After the crash, driver of the Chevrolet, later identified as Aaron Maurice Ashley, exited the vehicle and fled the scene on foot. Ashley was later located and transported to the Independence Police Department Detention Unit.
While in the detention unit, Ashley continued to be uncooperative and had to be placed in a deescalation cell. Inside of the cell, Ashley defecated on the floor into his hands. He then proceeded to eat his own f***s as well as smear it on the walls and floor. Ashley further used blood from the injuries he sustained in the crash to write and draw on the walls of the cell.
Ashley's actions in the cell caused a disruption to the jail resulting in the cell being unusable until it could be decontaminated for safety due to the biological hazard to others.
Ashley's passenger remained in the Chevrolet and all four occupants of the Mitsubishi remained on the crash scene. Three of the four passengers of the Mitsubishi had to be extracted from the overturned vehicle, and the Independence Fire Department had to use the jaws of life. Five subjects sustained serious injuries and were transported to area hospitals.
Ashley is being held on a $200,000 CASH ONLY bond.
