Fire captain charged with felony assault

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- An Independence Fire Department captain has been charged with two felony counts after an altercation in which he knocked one man out, broke another man's jaw and caused a woman to break her pelvis.

Jackson County prosecutors on Wednesday filed two felony counts of second-degree assault and one count of third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, against John M. Vansittert, 37, of Independence. The charges stem from a June 27 incident in Kansas City.

Prosecutors said the confrontation began after Vansittert found a man leaning on his Mercedes.

Independence fire chief Larry Hodge said his staff would decide whether to suspend Vansittert after reviewing the charges.

In court records, witnesses said Vansittert poured beer on the man who was leaning on his car, then punched him and knocked him unconscious. When the man's wife and a friend tried to intervene, they said, the woman was knocked down and broke a bone in her pelvis. The friend was punched repeatedly in the face, police said, and his jaw was broken in two places.

Vansittert suffered bruised knuckles in the altercation. Police said Vansittert told them he was startled when he saw the man leaning on his car and was afraid there might be a carjacking.

The fire captain was not in custody on Wednesday, but was arranging his surrender, police said.