TOPEKA
Four hours after Kansas Senate Majority Leader Gene Suellentrop was criminally charged Friday for allegedly driving the wrong way on an interstate highway while under the influence, senior Senate Republicans issued a statement that took no position on whether he should resign his leadership position or his seat.
In a joint statement, Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican and Senate Vice President Rick Wilborn, a McPherson Republican, called the charges “very serious” and said they trust the legal process “will ensure due process and a just resolution.”
“Upon learning of these formal charges, we have begun reaching out to other members of the Republican caucus about how to proceed most effectively moving forward,” they said.
Suellentrop’s chief of staff, Eric Rucker, did not respond to The Star’s request for comment.
Suellentrop, a Republican from Wichita, is accused of felony fleeing and eluding police, misdemeanor driving under the influence and reckless driving, as well as two traffic infractions for speeding and driving the wrong way on a Topeka highway early on March 16.
A criminal complaint, obtained by the Kansas Reflector, alleges he was driving 90 miles per hour in a 65 mile per hour zone and had a blood alcohol level over the legal limit.
The Reflector, citing the complaint, said Suellentrop “failed to stop for a police roadblock, drove around a tire deflating device placed by a police officer, engaged in reckless driving, was involved in a motor vehicle accident, intentionally caused damage to property” and eluded capture.
Suellentrop turned himself in just before 5 p.m. Friday after a warrant was issued, according to a statement from the office of Shawnee County District Attorney Michael Kagay. His bond is set at $5,000.
Suellentrop, 69, said last week he was turning over the bulk of his formal duties to Assistant Majority Leader Larry Alley. But the filing of criminal charges only intensified the scandal enveloping him and further eroded his support among Republicans.
‘Actively engaged’
Sen. Dennis Pyle, a Hiawatha Republican, said Suellentrop’s actions to step back last week were insufficient. He also said that Suellentrop had, in fact, retained most of his leadership duties.
“The things that I’ve been aware of show that he’s been actively engaged,” Pyle said. “More of the public stuff, maybe, has given the appearance that he’s taken a little bit of a back step but I can’t say that I think he’s really relinquished the bulk of his responsibilities.”
Pyle said he hoped leadership and Suellentrop would do the “right thing” and hold themselves to the same accountability and transparency standards as everyone else following the charges.
“I think he needs to step down as majority leader,” said Sen. Rob Olson, and Olathe Republican. “Because I think we need to take the focus off the Senate because this is his problem not the Kansas Senate’s problem.”
Suellentrop, a businessman, has been in the Senate since 2017 after serving eight years in the House. He developed a reputation as a hardline conservative who opposed Medicaid expansion and voiced skepticism about mask wearing during the pandemic.
He has enjoyed a close relationship with Masterson. The two are business partners on a small building near the Capitol.
Business records show that Suellentrop is the partial owner of a company that organized Van Buren Place LLC, which owns a building two blocks north of the Capitol on Van Buren Street. A spokesman for Masterson confirmed the Senate president owns half the property.
Suellentrop’s only public comments on his arrest came last week after he addressed a closed-door gathering of GOP senators. In a statement at the time, he didn’t directly address the allegations, but said only that he regretted that “this incident” had caused a distraction for his fellow senators and staff and “from the important issues we are debating on behalf of the people of Kansas.”
Pressure on KHP
Kagay announced the charges only hours after the Kansas Highway Patrol completed its investigation and sent it to the prosecutor’s office.
Pressure on the Highway Patrol had been mounting since shortly after the incident. It ratcheted up Thursday when the agency, which said earlier it would release the first page of an incident report, said it didn’t possess the report. The reversal raised eyebrows and at least one DUI attorney said it appeared unusual.
The Highway Patrol arrested Suellentrop early on the morning of March 16. According to 911 and dispatch audio, the senator allegedly drove the wrong way on Topeka highways for at least 10 minutes, at one point nearly hitting another driver.
What Suellentrop had been doing before getting on the highway after midnight isn’t clear. Hours earlier, he was seen at the Van Buren property for about 10 minutes during a reception held by the Truth Caucus, a group of conservative Republican lawmakers, according to Masterson’s spokesman Mike Pirner.
In his statement, Kagay said police began receiving calls about Suellentrop’s vehicle when it was driving in the wrong direction on Interstate 470 near the Burlingame exit in Topeka. That’s consistent with 911 audio previously released by the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office.
“They about hit me, but I’m OK, I’m fine,” a caller to 911 said.
But Suellentrop failed to stop when police located him driving east in the westbound lanes near the Gage exit on Interstate-70 leading Capitol Police on a five-minute pursuit, the Highway Patrol said last week.
Kagay said that Suellentrop, the only person in the car, was arrested between the 3rd and 8th Street exits on Interstate 70..
A judge released Suellentrop later that day because the Kansas Highway Patrol report lacked “pertinent information” to prove probable cause to keep Suellentrop in custody or set bond.
This story was originally published March 26, 2021 10:18 PM.
Katie Bernard
The Kansas City Star
