KCTV 5Mosby residents stand by police chief after arrest

Residents in a small town whose police chief was arrested this month are standing by his performance.

Two days after a KCTV5 story about the arrest of Mosby Police Chief Richard Pacheco, no one attending the city's monthly council meeting raised the issue.

Pacheco was arrested in Kansas City, KS on Nov. 13 on suspicion of assault with a firearm.

That comes eight years after an arrest for a domestic assault when he was chief in Holt, MO. In 2003, Pacheco plead guilty to disturbing the peace in Gladstone. The original charge alleged he blocked a woman's car with his and banged on her car window. The Holt Board of Aldermen voted, with one dissenting vote, to keep him as police chief.

Mosby Alderman Lisa Best said she was not aware of Pacheco's 2003 crime, but that it did not bother her.

"I think he's doing a great job here," she said, "so I'm not looking into the past."

In regards to the more recent arrest, she and a member of the Zoning Board took the same position as the mayor did earlier in the week.

"I'd want to see the outcome," said Jason Stooksbury, referring to the fact that Pacheco has yet to be charged in the KCK incident. "We live in the United States and you're still innocent until proven guilty."

According to the public portion of the police report, Pacheco was arrested at 4700 Parallel Parkway at 7 p.m. on suspicion of aggravated assault involving a firearm. A spokeswoman for the police there said the arrest stemmed from an incident that started on I-670 in the area of Central Avenue.

The narrative portion of police reports are not public in Kansas, but the alleged victim's brother told us his brother pulled into a parking lot because someone was following him. He said the driver of the other car then got out, identified himself as a police officer, drew his gun and restrained the man saying that driver had sideswiped him and driven off.

Pacheco said he had been advised not to comment but said he knew in his heart that the truth would come out.

Pacheco's other employer, the Shawnee Mission School District, suspended him the day after his Nov. 13 arrest, and he resigned three days later from his campus police position at East High School.

Mosby is a town of 190 people, according to 2010 U.S. Census figures. The mayor said the city has two paid positions on the police department. The rest are volunteers.

For previous coverage on Pacheco's arrest, click here.

Copyright 2011 KCTV. All rights reserved.