Truck driver indicted for manslaughter in firefighter’s death

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Kansas City truck driver was indicted Friday on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a Boone County firefighter.

A Boone County grand jury entered the indictment against Kevin Brunson for his role in the death of Bryant Gladney, an official with the Boone County Fire Protection District. Gladney was killed when Brunson's tractor-trailer slammed into his service SUV on Dec. 22 as Gladney was working at the scene of a previous crash.

A crash report ABC 17 News obtained last month indicates Brunson broke rules about length of driving time when the crash happened.

Gladney and several others were investigating a different tractor-trailer that had rolled onto its side around 4:30 a.m. that day. Gladney parked his SUV in the right lane of the interstate with its emergency lights flashing. Video obtained by ABC 17 News from a witness shows Brunson, a driver with Express 2000, hitting Gladney's car from behind with Gladney inside.

The report from Cpl. Nicholas March said Brunson told him after the crash that he did not know anyone was in the right lane of traffic at the time. Brunson allegedly told March that he was first driving in the left lane. Brunson said he began to slow down when he saw other trucks doing so, but then realized the truck in front of him was nearly stopped.

Witnesses told the patrol that they felt Brunson was driving too quickly for the situation. March even wrote "too fast for conditions" as a contributing factor for the crash, along with "failed to yield."

ABC 17 News has been unable to reach Brunson. His bond is set at $250,000. It wasn't clear Friday afternoon whether he was in custody.

ABC 17 News anchor Lucas Geisler contributed to this report.