Kansas

Kansas City area businesses speak out, following weekend string of break-ins

Published

1 year ago

January 13, 2025

Kansas City area businesses speak out, following weekend string of break-ins

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Four Kansas City-area businesses spent their weekend cleaning shards of glass, and boarded-up windows and doors following a string of break-ins.

“It’s not just isolated to us,” said Christopher Ciesiel, Co-Owner of Sagebrush Cocktail Bar and The Campground.

Businesses affected by weekend break-ins:

Sagebrush Cocktail Bar
Seven Swans Creperie
La Bodega
Garden House Cafe

A trend that’s become common in the Kansas City area had Ciesel notice movement on his security cameras outside his KCK Rosedale neighborhood cocktail bar. He told KSHB 41 a group of individuals were seen brandishing a firearm and shattering the glass door in his business. The group stole an empty cash register. Following the hit at his business, he called neighboring business owner, Garden House Cafe, Jordan Fox. A similar event was taking place at his business.

“Our cash register was taken, all of our cash. That was it, thankfully,” said Fox. “It’s disheartening.”

Will Shaw/KSHB

Jordan Fox

Fox has called the Rosedale neighborhood home for eight years and has worked at his corner location for four. Operating as Garden House Cafe for the past two years, he values the patronage of his neighbors and the sense of life his business can bring to the community.

“It’s a very intimate space for ourselves, community, and neighbors,” he said. “Our neighbors walk up almost every morning for a cup. We know them by name. It the kind of story of corner shops across the nation.”

Screenshot 2025-01-12 at 9.25.26 PM.png — Customers write words of encouragement on boards covering damage at Garden House Cafe.

Fox told KSHB 41 three individuals brandishing a firearm, seen on his security footage, broke into his corner cafe, shattering the front door and stealing a register with cash.

“No one was hurt in the process. Everything else was in tact. We have vendors in our space that we really care about, all of their products were in tact so that was really great,” Fox added.

Garden House Break in — Garden House Cafe break-in

Kansas City experienced a spat of business break-ins and since late October, saw it taper off. This round, it has Ciesiel and his neighbor questioning the system as break-ins become the norm.

“If they [Police] happen to catch someone like this, they’ll just be back on the street in a day or two,” Ciesiel stated. “It’s not ‘if’ anymore, it’s ‘when is it going to happen’ or ‘when is it going to happen again.’”

The Campground Break In — Christopher Ciesiel is the co-owner of Sagebrush in the Rosedale neighborhood of KCK and The Campground in KCMO, which experienced a break-in last year.

In late August 2024, a string of car thefts also rang throughout Kansas City. A suspected car theft led to the murder of beloved Chef Shaun Brady when he confronted a group of suspects attempting to steal a vehicle. Brady was gunned down after he took out the trash and was left for dead in the parking lot. The Brady & Fox restaurant, the location of the Shaun’s death would not reopen, family stated the restaurant was too connected to Brady’s culinary impact on Kansas City.

“It hurts and it kind of makes it hard to keep going and stay positive,” Ciesiel added. “If things keep going how they are, I don’t see a lot of these impacted businesses staying open…I just hope it doesn’t keep going to the point, where small business owners must start defending themselves and their properties. That would be a scary time.”

On Sunday, Garden House Cafe opened it doors to an influx of customer’s showing their support. Many wrote messages of support on plywood boards gracing damage on the windows.

“It’s been a lot to process,” Fox explained. “I know many of these people by name and it means the world. It means, we do have support.”

Support for the corner coffee shop owner keeps him going for now. Fox offers a message for governmental leaders to ensure the prosperity of small businesses moving forward.

“This is our livelihood, so our head is down and we’ll keep going. I am asking that something happen in our government to care for our small businesses. It has to happen,” said Fox.

KSHB 41 reached out to KCPD and KCKPD, asking if the recent string of break-ins are in connection to each other. KCKPD had not responded to KSHB 41’s inquiry at the time this article was published. KSHB 41 asked Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department if this batch break-ins has any connection to the ones in 2024.

A KCPD spokesperson told KSHB 41, if the crimes have any connection it will be investigated. Any connection to neighboring jurisdictions or ongoing patterns would be what detectives would look into.

“There hasn’t been much of a response that I can see,” Fox added. “The response is, we’re just out here on our own.”

Source link

Related Topics:Featured Kansas City Kansas City News

Click to comment

Kansas

RESULTS: NE Kansas high schools to play Friday after Tuesday sub-state wins

Published

2 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

RESULTS: NE Kansas high schools to play Friday after Tuesday sub-state wins

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – Below is a look at the results from Tuesday night’s high school basketball sub-state semifinals in Northeast Kansas.

Editor’s Note: This story will be updated with what schools are hosting when that information becomes readily available.

WIBW Scoreboard

BOYS

5A East Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

KC Washington 68, Highland Park 38
Shawnee Heights 49, De Soto 37 (will play Leavenworth Friday)

5A West Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

Topeka West 55, Hutchinson 32 (will play Bishop Carroll Friday)
Emporia 61, Great Bend 41 (will play Maize South Friday)
Seaman 73, Valley Center 51 (will play Hays Friday)

3A West Franklin Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

Burlington 60, Osage City 35 (will play Baxter Springs Friday)

3A Sabetha Boys: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

Hiawatha 73, Oskaloosa 48 (will play Heritage Christian Friday)
Silver Lake 58, Sabetha 39 (will play Perry-Lecompton Friday 7:30 p.m.)

GIRLS

6A West Girls: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

Washburn Rural 60, Wichita South 32 (will play Derby)
Topeka High 69, Maize 45 (will play Liberal)
Manhattan 67, Free State 21 (will play Wichita East)

4A East Girls: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

Rock Creek 71, Parsons 23 (will play Tonganoxie)
Wamego 54, Labette County 33 (will play Bishop Miege)
Hayden 2, Athison 0 (will play Baldwin)

2A Eskridge/Mission Valley Girls: Tuesday’s sub-state semifinal results

Rossville 71, KC Christian 49 (will play Maur Hill-Mount Academy)
Lyndon 61, Jeff. Co. North 31 (will play Valley Heights)
Valley Heights 65, Doniphan West 41 (will play Lyndon)

Source link

Kansas

Doe v. State of Kansas | American Civil Liberties Union

Published

15 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Doe v. State of Kansas | American Civil Liberties Union

In early 2026, the Kansas state legislature passed SB 244, a law which prohibits transgender people from using public restrooms on government property that align with their gender identity and establishes a private right of action that allows anyone who suspects someone is transgender and in violation of the law to sue that person for “damages” totaling $1,000.

The law also invalidates state-issued driver’s licenses with updated gender markers that reflect the carrier’s gender identity. In February 2026, transgender people across the state received letters from the state Department of Revenue’s Division of Vehicles informing them that their driver’s licenses “will no longer be valid,” effective immediately. SB 244 also prohibits transgender Kansans – or those born in Kansas – from updating the gender marker on state-issued birth certificates and driver’s licenses in the future.

The same day SB 244 went into effect, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Kansas, and Ballard Spahr LLP filed a lawsuit challenging SB 244 in the District Court of Douglas County on behalf of two transgender men who had their driver’s licenses invalidated under the law. The lawsuit charges that SB 244 violates the Kansas Constitution’s protections for personal autonomy, privacy, equality under the law, due process, and freedom of speech.

“The invalidation of state-issued IDs threatens to out transgender people against their will every time they apply for a job, rent an apartment, or interact with police,” said Harper Seldin, Senior Staff Attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project. “Taken as a whole, SB 244 is a transparent attempt to deny transgender people autonomy over their own identities and push them out of public life altogether.”

Source link

Kansas

Kansas City man sentenced for cocaine trafficking, possession of illegal firearm

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Kansas City man sentenced for cocaine trafficking, possession of illegal firearm

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – A Kansas City man was sentenced in federal court for his role in a drug trafficking conspiracy and possession of an illegal firearm.

According to the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, 22-year-old Antoine R. Gillum was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison without parole.

His sentencing stems from a June 2024 incident in a metro gas station. KCPD investigators contacted Gillum inside and found that he had discarded a 9 mm pistol in an aisle between the merchandise. He also discarded a pill bottle containing multiple illegal substances: cocaine base, oxycodone/acetaminophen and oxycodone.

Officers searched the vehicle Gillum had arrived in and found approximately 32 grams of cocaine base.

On May 6, 2025, Gillum pleaded guilty to one count each of possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Jennings. It’s a part of ‘Operation Take Back America,’ a nationwide Department of Justice initiative to eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations.

No further information has been released.

Source link