Kansas City man charged in Northland Rally House shooting
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A man has been charged in the shooting of a Rally House employee in the Shops at Boardwalk during an alleged armed robbery.
Thirty-year-old Travis A. Miller of Kansas City, Missouri, has been charged with first-degree robbery and armed criminal action.
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The court entered a not guilty plea on Miller’s behalf, and his next court date is set for Dec. 12.
Miller allegedly walked around the store suspiciously carrying several clothing items in his arms. He was also said to be in the store for 20-30 minutes not using a shopping cart and carrying as many clothing items as physically possible, court records say.
When Miller exited past the security sensors at the main doors, an audible alarm was activated because the clothing items still had tag sensors on them, charging documents say.
That’s when a Rally House employee followed Miller and grabbed some of the clothing to recover the stolen items.
Miller then turned and allegedly shot the employee in the left leg. The employee did not see the firearm but immediately felt pain in his leg and fell to the ground, court records say.
According to the hospital, the gunshot wound to the leg caused his femur bone to break and required immediate surgery.
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Employees at the store estimated Miller allegedly stole 5-7 items with a value of approximately $300. He passed all points of sale without paying for the clothing items and exited the business, court records say.
One 9mm shell casing was recovered from the ground next to where the victim was lying, police said. Video from Rally House shows Miller stealing the items, prosecutors say, but there was no known video outside of the business that captured the shooting.
A witness observed Miller fleeing the scene and took photos of his vehicle, a black Chevrolet Trailblazer, court documents say. The information was passed on to officers.
KCPD found Miller’s vehicle in the area of 152 Highway and Maple Woods Parkway. Officers attempted to stop Miller, but he refused to stop, police said.
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Police said he ran a red light at the intersection of the 152 Highway east exit ramp and N. Indiana. His vehicle was hit by another car, causing the Trailblazer to break down, police said.
Miller was then taken into custody and during a search, police found methamphetamine in his front right pocket, court records say.
“I had just been up here, so it is kind of nerve racking,” Kansas City, Mo. resident Lorena O’Connor said of the incident in an interview with FOX4 Friday.
Republican Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd says shoplifting has become an enormous problem as stores lose money. He says his office charges these types of crimes often.
“But shoplifting when you use a weapon is something entirely different,” he said in an interview with FOX4 Friday. “That’s robbery. Robbery is one of the most serious crimes that you can be charged with in the state of Missouri. It has a sentence of 10 years up to life in prison.”
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Three weeks ago, undercover Overland Park police tried to stop two men for shoplifting, and one of them ended up firing the officer’s gun. No one was hurt, but the bullet struck in the same spot where a child sat only moments earlier.
Monday, suspected female shoplifters running from police in Overland Park also caused a crash that hurt an innocent driver.
O’Connor wants it to be harder for criminals to want to shoplift again.
“I don’t know what that could be,” she continued. “Maybe a large, huge, huge fine or hold them in jail if they don’t pay it. I don’t know what the answer is, but they need to be somewhat stopped. I don’t know what it’s going to take.”
Zahnd said there are ways to do that under existing law, and he wants state leaders to improve shoplifting laws in the future.
“I’m not alleging that Mr. Miller for example was part of a crime theft ring, but we know that there are people who are parts of organized crime theft rings. We can do a better job both with the law and we can also do a better job of enforcing the law when it comes to shoplifting.”
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Zahnd said the last he heard the victim was doing OK.
Miller is currently being held in the Platte County Jail without bond.
