Police report filed, but no charges in incident at Cape Central

Cape Girardeau Central High School student Ta’Brea Harris and her mother, Terri Harris, filed a report with Cape Girardeau police in December 2014 about an alleged assault by then-assistant principal Chris Kase and athletic director Lance Tollison on school property.

Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Chris Limbaugh said Thursday there was insufficient evidence in the case to file criminal charges against either man.

“I carried out the review of all evidence in the case,” Limbaugh said. “I’ve seen the video, I reviewed witness statements and all reports, and I declined to file charges.”

Limbaugh said he could not go into what the surveillance video taken at the school showed because of an ethical obligation not to talk about civil cases.

Public-information officer Adam Glueck of the Cape Girardeau Police Department said he saw the video, and the incident was not entirely visible.

At one point, a pillar blocks the view of the surveillance camera.

The petition in the civil case, originally filed in November 2015 and amended in February 2016 by Harris’ lawyers, Daniel Statler and Matthew O’Brien, describes the actions of Kase and Tollison as assault.

It alleges the defendants intended to cause Harris bodily harm in their actions.

The petition states Ta’Brea Harris, then 14, was in a verbal altercation with a female classmate when Kase physically apprehended her while she was trying to walk away and slammed her to the ground.

Later, the petition states, Tollison approached Harris from behind, pulled her hands behind her back and slammed her to the ground.

Harris got back up on her feet, told Tollison she wanted to be released and struggled to get away from him, according to the petition.

Tollison is accused of responding by slamming Harris to the ground a second time.

Defense lawyer Rebecca Cary filed motions to dismiss the case for Kase and Tollison.

Neither memorandum of support for those motions states the plaintiff’s description of the events was inaccurate; instead, it was argued Kase and Tollison were working within the bounds of their official capacity as assistant principal and athletic director.

Court documents state a surveillance video of the altercation, described by the plaintiffs as “graphic and disturbing,” exists.

On Wednesday, Judge Craig Brewer granted a temporary protective order sealing the video at the request of the defense.

The Southeast Missourian filed a Sunshine Law request to the district for release of the video.

bkleine@semissourian.com

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