A Kansas City, Missouri, man who was shot by an Independence, Missouri, police officer as he attempted to strike the officer with his truck before leading officers on a high-speed chase, has been indicted by a federal grand jury for illegally possessing a firearm.
Isaiah Fulson-Dewberry, 27, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo., on Tuesday, September 10. The indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Fulson-Dewberry on September 3, 2019.
According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, two Independence, Missouri, police officers were dispatched to Pepperwood Apartments on September 1, 2019, on reported prowlers. The officers arrived at the apartment complex in separate vehicles and approached from opposite directions. Fulson-Dewberry, driving a 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche (later determined to be stolen), pulled out of a parking space and began driving through the parking lot. When the first officer’s marked patrol vehicle approached, the affidavit says, Fulson-Dewberry put the truck in reverse and went back into the parking area, driving up onto the curb into the grass. The truck then drove forward and deliberately rammed the front end of the officer’s vehicle. Two passengers – a white female and a black male – ran from the truck and were never located. The truck backed up again, the affidavit says, and slammed into a parked truck, pushing it into another parked vehicle, and then rammed into the front of the officer’s vehicle a second time.
According to the affidavit, the truck backed up again, clipping the front end of the second officer’s patrol vehicle, and then went forward again, hitting the front of the patrol vehicle and pushing it. The officer was outside of his vehicle, the affidavit says, and Fulson-Dewberry swerved the truck at him. The officer, fearing for his life, fired 10 rounds from his duty weapon into the driver’s side of the truck.
The truck fled the apartment complex and a pursuit was initiated. The truck made it onto westbound 39th Street. The truck drove on the shoulder of the road, the affidavit says, passing vehicles at a high rate of speed and running red lights at busy intersections. The truck also entered into oncoming traffic, nearly striking two different eastbound vehicles head-on. The truck proceeded onto southbound Lee’s Summit Road and attempted to get onto the ramp to westbound I-70, but was traveling too fast and spun out into the ditch just onto the ramp to westbound I-70 from Lee’s Summit Road.
Fulson-Dewberry got out of the driver’s side of the truck and threw a loaded Walther .22-caliber handgun into the grassy area near the truck. Fulson-Dewberry had a gunshot wound that entered his left calf and exited then entered into his right calf, where the bullet lodged. He was taken into custody without further incident and transported for medical treatment.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Fulson-Dewberry has prior felony convictions for possession of a controlled substance and theft of property.
The charge contained in this indictment is simply an accusation and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Marquez. It was investigated by the Independence, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
