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Wichita Police Captain Charged In Youth Sports Confrontation

wichita,gov

A Wichita Police captain has been charged with battery and disorderly conduct for a confrontation that occurred during a recent youth basketball game in Augusta.

Kevin Mears is accused of pushing a teenage female referee out of the way as he rushed to a player on the court.

Mears was off-duty at the time of the Jan. 13 incident. He is currently on unpaid leave from the Wichita Police Department pending the outcome of criminal proceedings and an internal review.

Augusta Prosecutor Benjamin Winters says the Augusta Department of Public Safety’s investigation included numerous witness statements and video evidence.

Winters released a statement Monday announcing the charges. Both are misdemeanors.

The game involved fifth- and sixth-grade students.

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Follow Deborah Shaar on Twitter @deborahshaar.

 
To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.

 

Deborah joined the news team at KMUW in September 2014 as a news reporter. She spent more than a dozen years working in news at both public and commercial radio and television stations in Ohio, West Virginia and Detroit, Michigan. Before relocating to Wichita in 2013, Deborah taught news and broadcasting classes at Tarrant County College in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area.