Woman Uses Gun to Halt Unwanted Sexual Advances

Originally ran as:
Wichitan flags down woman to ask for kiss
The 24-year-old truck driver is jailed in Hays and charged with criminal restraint.

Original publication location:
http://web.wichitaeagle.com/content/wichitaeagle/2001/02/09/others/kisser0209_txt.htm

Eagle staff and news services

February 9, 2001

HAYS, Kansas -- A Wichita man who flagged down a woman driving on I-70 and asked for a kiss was arrested after the woman pulled out a handgun, drove away and called law officers.

Ellis County prosecutors Tuesday charged Kevin A. Thompson, 24, with criminal restraint. He remained in jail in Hays on Thursday in lieu of $25,000 bond.

"If I seemed like I was harassing anybody, I didn't mean it," Thompson said.

According to Sedgwick County District Court records, Thompson also faces kidnapping, attempted rape and aggravated sexual battery charges stemming from an unrelated incident in October.

Records show Thompson listed Waste Management of Wichita as his employer at the time prosecutors filed charges in that case. No one from that company was available for comment Thursday evening.

Thompson's lawyer on the Sedgwick County charges, Mark Schoenhofer, was out of town and could not be reached for comment.

Lt. Robert Symns of the Kansas Highway Patrol said the woman pulled over about 4 miles east of Hays on Monday afternoon after a Land Air Express truck flashed its lights and the driver motioned toward the back of her car. When she stopped, the driver parked his truck in front of her car.

The Bunker Hill woman said she slipped a handgun into her pocket before checking the rear lights. When she got back into her car, the truck driver held the car door open, put a foot inside, leaned in and twice asked for a kiss, Symns said.

The woman pulled the holstered gun out of her pocket, showed it to him and said, "I've got a gun." She drove away and called authorities, who contacted Land Air Express, a Wichita company. Highway Patrol troopers met Thompson when he made his next delivery, at the Hays Medical Center, Symns said. Thompson agreed to be interviewed, and troopers later arrested him.

Ellis County prosecutor Tom Drees said the woman won't face charges for carrying a concealed weapon.

"I'm glad this did not end up in a tragic circumstance," Drees said. "Any time a gun is pulled, it escalates the situation. What would have happened if he had taken the gun from her?"

Land Air Express officials could not be reached for comment Thursday evening.

Contributing: Associated Press, Deb Gruver of The Eagle

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