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COMPLAINT
To Whom It May Concern
Re: Traffic Ticket No. 16409 / Pittsburg, KS, Municipal Court Case No. C1500 2312
On July 1st, 2015 at around 12:25PM officer Tony Colyer (officer #38) stopped my son Kyle
Muathe near 300 West 7th street supposedly because his under 49cc moped did not have
registered tags attached to it. Allegedly, the probable cause associated with this stop was for
failure to display registered tags. Officer Colyer seemed unsure about the need for tags himself
but proceeded to give my son Kyle Muathe a warning. The stop did not mention anything
about the need for a helmet and/or eye protection for those under 18 years of age.
On and around July 1st, 2015 (the same day of the above traffic stop) I personally called the
Pittsburg police dispatch and talked to a yet to be identified dispatcher. I specifically asked
dispatch what was needed for a moped to be street legal and in compliance with the Kansas
State law(s) since there seemed to be confusion as to whether or not a moped with less than
49cc needed to be registered. Dispatch assured me that officer (Tony Colyer) made a mistake
by stopping my minor son - Kyle Muathe - because registration was not needed in Kansas and
that Dispatch, and/or the police department would talk to Officer Colyer to enlighten him on
the law. I was assured that my son would not be stopped again by the police because of lack of
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moped tags. The dispatcher did not mention anything about the need for a helmet, and/or eye
protection.
All dispatch telephone conversations are recorded, and there should be a record of this
conversation(s) unless it/they now somehow magically disappears due to the usual, much
It is important to note here that, additionally, around the same time another police officer
privately confirmed to me that no registration, or tags were needed in Kansas for mopeds
under 49cc.
Kyle Muathe did not ride his moped between July 3rd, 2015, and July 25th, 2015 for
On, and around July 28th, or July 29th, 2015 using an unmarked police vehicle police officer
Jeff Woods, and another yet to be identified police officer stopped Kyle Muathe on Rouse, and
7th street at around 1:00PM supposedly because his under 49cc moped did not have tags
attached to it. The probable cause associated with this stop, again, was for failure to display
registered tags.
Officer Woods asked Kyle if he was brother to Quincy Muathe and Kyle said yes. Quincy is,
and has been friends with officer wood's son Zack Woods over the years. Kyle proceeded to
explain to officer Woods that his moped was under 49cc, and that the police department had
already confirmed that it did not require registration, and even produced paperwork showing
that it was under 49cc. Officer woods agreed with Kyle that he was correct about not needing
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to register his moped if it was under 49cc and let him go. Again, this stop did not mention
anything about the need for a helmet and/or eye protection for those under 18 years of age.
It appears this traffic stop by officer woods was not reported to dispatch and/or that no
incident report was ever made since all attempts to have this information produced has largely
been ignored, or side stepped with the typical cooperate like turn-around non-sense with
supposedly no one in the police department wanting to even touch the subject matter.
Kyle Muathe did not ride his moped between August 3rd, 2015, and August 8th, 2015 since
On August 12th, 2015 at around 9:34AM officer Aaron Hembree (officer #37) stopped Kyle
Muathe on Jefferson street, and Joplin street (Crawford County, Pittsburg, Kansas, 66762)
supposedly because his under 49cc moped did not have registered tags attached to his
moped. The probable cause associated with this stop was, yet again, for lack of tags. Officer
Hembree proceeded to issue two citations for failure to wear a helmet, and failure to wear eye
protection (even though we later learnt that eye protection is not even required). Again, no
citation was given for lack of tags and/or lack of moped registration which was the pre·text for
the stop.
It should additionally be noted that Kansas law does not require eye protection, and yet a
citation was issued for this by officer Aaron Hembree. Improperly trained police officers are
At the time of the above stops my son, Kyle Muathe, was a 16-year old teenager.
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It should be noted that since the very day of the August 12th, 2015 traffic stop, after officer
Aaron Hembree's two citations for failure to wear a helmet, and failure to wear eye protection
my son's moped got registered, and has been displaying proper tags, and he has also been
wearing a helmet once the police department contradicted itself, and indicated that the
previous information about the no need for registration for mopeds under 49cc was wrong.
In other words my son was complaint with state law from the day the police department
contradicted its own prior statements, and confirmed that moped registration was actually
needed (even for mopeds under 49cc) and that those under 18 needed to wear a helmet. Had
these requirements been positively, and correctly stated during my first inquiry (after the first
traffic stop) as to the state law requirements for mopeds then the repeated unwarranted
harassment with the abuse of unnecessary repeated traffic stops by seemingly moped law
On August 12, 2015 while registering the moped, I was also told by the Crawford Judicial
Center DMV office lady that the Pittsburg city police officers themselves had personally
routinely visited the DVM office to inquire if there was a Kansas state law requirement for
mopeds to be registered. In other words, the police department is clueless as to whether or not
For the record, I am a white female with two law abiding, well behaved mixed kids (AKA
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It should be pointed out that it took me more than a VERY frustrating month (repeatedly
calling the police station, and personally going to the police station on countless occasions) to
get the above limited information about the traffic stops since nobody in the police
department wanted to produce the traffic stops information, and I ultimately had to get the
above limited information by being forced (as the only option I was told) to go to the police
Isn't this just a carefully designed ploy to frustrate me and/or tax payers from asking for,
and receiving PUBLIC information. Why was I forced to go to the police department at 10PM to
see patrol lieutenant Bob Arnall? What if he got ill indefinitely? Isn't the police department
open during normal "business" hours? Who is in charge of this outrageous procedure? Who
This is unacceptable!!
Officer Bob Arnall personally told me that at least one of the police officers that stopped
my son was a rookie, and that he didn't know what he was doing. Additionally, he told me that
if I needed the incident reports for my son's public traffic stops that I would have to subpoena
the police department. Why is my son's multiple - very public - traffic stops now a tightly
guarded police secret? Where is the transparency, and why is one of the traffic stops (the one
On the morning of September 2nd, 2015 I was at the police station where I had gone to
inquire on my son's traffic ticket status scheduled for later that day since my son was in school,
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and I didn't know if he personally needed to be present for his citation(s) hearing since he was
a minor. I was told he did not need to be there, and when I politely asked for the person's
name so I would know who I talked to (due to the ongoing run around I had been
encountering) she categorically refused to give me her name. When I asked why she told me
This was, and still remains an insult! Isn't this yet another show of profiling? I now wonder if
I was racially profiled because I have mixed kids? Or, was I also profiled because of other
factors that were not disclosed? How did this lady come to the stunning conclusion that
providing me with her name would lead to me stalking her? Do I meet a stalking profile that I
am not aware off? How did she come to the conclusion that I might have a criminal tendency?
Isn't this blatant in-your-face profiling? Is this how the city of Pittsburg treats tax payers?
I insisted, and she very reluctantly told me her name was Cindy Rusthon who I later learnt
The information Cindy Ruston provided me was also incorrect as the Judge later that day
told me that my son did need to be in court. Again, it seems proper training is absent, and that
most of the city officers that I have come in contact with as regards the subject matter don't
How can the public have confidence in a shady improperly trained police department?
It is very obvious, and self evident that what we are dealing with here, at the very least, is
wholesale untrained, inconsistent, ineffective, and inadequately law trained police officers. We
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unquestionably have moped law illiterate police officers, and a lack of proper supervision by
those who are in charge directly, or indirectly like prosecutor John Mazurek, by failing to
monitor, and properly educate police officers on the correct types of citations they can bring to
Where is the police training certification by the municipal court prosecutor? What role does
he/she have in making sure the citations brought in front of him/her are not based on poor
police training, abuse, and constitutional violations including but not limited to biased profiling
of any kind?
At the very worst Kyle Muathe, and his immediate family all too strongly believe that these
multiple concentrated traffic stops were all racially charged profiling, and serial abuse by the
Why else was he stopped three times in the space of 13 days by officers who clearly did not
even know the very law they claimed to have been attempting to enforce? Why else was he
stopped three times in thirteen days for no tags but was never once given a citation for this?
Why else was he stopped three times in the span of approximately 13 days when 50% - 80% of
the mopeds currently driven in the Pittsburg city roads by mainly white people STILL have no
registered tags???
Kyle Muathe, and his parents believe that Kyle Muathe was racially profiled, targeted,
traumatized, and unnecessarily abused by the above officers who are clearly not properly
trained, and have little to no idea of the laws they claim to be enforcing.
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My son has the right to freely use the public roads, just like everyone else in the community
without the constant threat of being stopped by what appears to be: an improperly trained,
What justification does a police department have to repeated harass a law abiding minor
who the record will show made every possible attempt to be compliant with state moped
laws/requirements and directly, through his parents, made effort with direct communication
Should my minor son have to pay for simple citations that the police themselves were not
aware off? Isn't it the duty of a responsible police force to educate area residents of laws they
It is my understanding, and believe that it is the duty of the city to have its peace officers
help to promote public safety, and preserve public trust, and confidence.
Individuals are free to walk and drive our streets, highways, and other public places without
I have no confidence in a police department that does not even know simple traffic laws,
and requirements, and I am equally disturbed as to why my "colored" son was stopped 3 times
in the space of 13 days when 50%-80% of the mopeds on the roads STILL have no tags.
Please stop my kid(s) from being harassed by an improperly trained police department, and
do a thorough investigation into the profiling issues mentioned here since this is very
It could have been much easier to simply pay the citation ticket, and move on but the
surrounding circumstances of improperly law trained police officers, and serious suspicions of
serial racial, or class profiling means we will fight this all the way. In other words: it's about the
The attached "sample" pictures were taken within a 72 hour window around September
22nd, and September 24th 2015. Driving around a small part of the city of Pittsburg, Kansas it
is clear that 50% to 80% of the mopeds STILL have no registered tags.
Please justify how one colored teenage boy can then be stopped three times in less than 13
days by the police when the whole predominately white town is demonstrably blissfully
Sincerely,
By:
Michelle McCann
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RED ARROWS DENOTE MOPEDS WITH NO TAGS IN PITTSBURG KANSAS
WITHIN A 72 HOUR WINDOW AROUND SEPT. 22ND, AND SEPT. 24TH 2015
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