KCTV 5Small-town MO police chief arrested

A small town police chief who faced scrutiny over an assault charge almost a decade ago now finds himself with a new criminal accusation to defend.

Less than three months after being promoted to Chief of Police in Mosby, Richard Pacheco found himself in the Wyandotte County jail, accused of aggravated assault. He was released the same day, Nov. 14, on his own recognizance and immediately notified the town's mayor.

"I'd be leery if he hadn't called me as soon as it went down," explained Mayor Kent Kavanaugh. "Anybody could get accused."

Kavanaugh said Pacheco joined the department seven years ago as an officer and was promoted to chief in late August.

"He has done wondrous things for this city," said Kavanaugh. "Our police department had turned around."

It is a sentiment KCTV5 heard a year before Pacheco came to Mosby, when a criminal charge raised the issue while he was chief of police in Holt, MO.

Mosby is a town of 600 people.

It has only two paid police officers, assisted by a team of volunteer reserve officers. The resources were similar in Holt.

It was 2003 when Pacheco pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace after being charged with a domestic assault. Also that year, two of his exes filed for protection orders.

Four years before that he left the Kansas City, MO, police department under pressure, after just one year on the force.

Details of what caused the KCPD pressure were not available, but charging records for the assault alleged Pacheco blocked a woman's car with his then pounded on her windows.

Elected officials in Holt defended and retained him, and the state agency tasked with licensing officers, Peace Officers Standards and Training, determined the crime did not warrant action on his license.

"He's learned from his mistakes," Kavanaugh said of the 2003 situation, which he said aldermen were aware of when hiring Pacheco. "He's become a better person, a better officer and a better chief."

Pacheco was also working as a campus police officer for Shawnee Mission East High School at the time of his November arrest. District officials places him on paid leave the next day and Pacheco resigned three days later, according to district spokeswoman Leigh Ann Neal.

Kavanaugh, however, said elected officials in Mosby are sensitive to what even a mere suspension can do to someone's credibility and don't want to make a move without more proof than an arrest.

"I'm not going to ruin a man's career, he said, "and neither is the city of Mosby, on an accusation because accusations fly around every day."

He said he has listened to a 911 tape that he thinks exonerates Pacheco and has been contacting Wyandotte County law enforcement regularly to stay abreast of any developments.

"It's totally out of character for Chief Pacheco," Kavanaugh said of the accusation leading to the arrest. "I have a hard time believing it, and I haven't seem any proof as if yet."

He says if that changes, if a criminal charge is filed, he will re-examine Pacheco's employment status.

Kavanaugh would not go into detail about the allegations surrounding Pacheco's arrest for aggravated assault.

KCTV5 requested a copy of the police report late Tuesday afternoon from Kansas City, KS, police department but did not get a response.

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