Paden charged with misdemeanor vehicular homicide during pursuit
By Bill Wilson
GREAT BEND - Barton County Sheriff's Deputy David Paden was charged Wednesday with misdemeanor vehicular homicide in the Sept. 1, 2003, death of a Great Bend man during a police pursuit.
Sheriff Buck Causey and county officials took no immediate administrative action against Paden, an 11-year sheriff's deputy, after Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline filed the charges in Barton County District Court.
Paden will make his first appearance at 9 a.m. Feb. 27 in Barton County District Court. He's charged with unintentionally killing Brian K. Frenzl, 40, of Great Bend. Frenzl's motorcycle slammed into the front of Paden's patrol car as the deputy made a U-turn on U.S. 281.
Paden remains on road patrol, Causey said at 3 p.m. Wednesday.
"Obviously, he has a right to the legal process," the sheriff said. "It wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment or become involved while that legal process is being carried out."
But during an interview an hour later, Causey said he "had some decisions to make" on Paden's status with the department.
"That's not to say, you understand, that he'll still be on the road today, tonight or tomorrow," Causey said in the second call. "All I was saying was that as we speak, he's still on the road."
Paden also was charged Wednesday with operating a motor vehicle with unlawful tinting and making an unlawful U turn.
Vehicular homicide is a misdemeanor with a fine up to $2,500 and up to a year in jail. Paden faces up to a month in a jail and a $500 fine on the tinting charge and a $60 fine for the illegal U-turn.
"Oh, thank you, God," said Frenzl's girlfriend, Rita Budig, about the filings.
She declined further comment on the advice of her attorney.
Employment options
Causey's initial decision to leave Paden on the road is unusual, but not unprecedented, said several law enforcement officials.
"I think there would be a whole lot (of reason), without all the details of this case, to at least take the officer off the street until the situation is resolved," Hutchinson Police Chief Dick Heitschmidt said.
Locally, a similar arrest would "have several options with it," he said.
"At the very least, you could bring the officer inside and do a desk job and not suspend them with pay," he said. "It very easily could be a suspend-with-pay situation."
Darrell Wilson, the president of the Kansas Sheriff's Association, agreed but said similar incidents are handled differently by departments.
"It's the classic judgment call," Wilson said. "If you felt like his credibility and the credibility of your department wouldn't be hindered, you could leave him on the street. If you or the sheriff, or the chief or the city manager or whoever feel like it is, then you take him off."
Interim Barton County Administrator Richard Boeck-man said the county commission won't meet for two weeks, so he would "defer to the sheriff on what he decides to do with Officer Paden," he said.
Paden's patrol car
An investigation in September by several Kansas Highway Patrol troopers into Frenzl's death found that Paden's patrol car was illegally tinted and improperly retrofitted to accommodate the dog in his K-9 unit.
As a result, investigators noted, Paden would have been forced to lean out the driver's window to avoid obstructions and see Frenzl's motorcycle coming from behind.
Causey said Wednesday the car was illegally tinted at the factory, and then the infraction was compounded when it was further tinted for the dog.
"It was certainly darker than the law allows," Causey said.
Wilson said the car's condition "shouldn't have been a factor in the accident."
"It's hard to deny the deputy made a mistake," Wilson said. "And to say that because of the windows and the dog's cage he couldn't see out is malarkey. If a motorcycle's coming at you at 50 mph or whatever and it's 100 yards away and you can't see out the side window, it's a rear view mirror thing for the driver."
Paden's record
The Frenzl accident was the fourth chase-related wreck involving Paden in the last two years.
Adam Mayers, 16, died Jan. 5, 2002, after his truck slammed into a telephone pole during a high-speed chase initiated by Paden.
Brian Case was injured in a March 2002 motorcycle accident after a chase that included Paden.
And Jeffrey Wayne Chapman, 22, of Hutchinson, was treated and released Oct. 29, 2003, after his car struck a tree at 8th and Hubbard in Great Bend after a five-block chase initiated by Paden.
The investigation
Charges were filed following an investigation by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and the Kansas Highway Patrol.
That investigation came after Barton County Attorney Rick Scheuffler referred the case to the AG in November, citing a possible conflict of interest.
Assistant Attorney General Stephen Maxwell will prosecute the case.
Reporter Bill Wilson can be reached at
bwilson@hutchnews.com or by calling (620) 694-5700, ext. 314.
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