Michael Bushnell
Northeast News
Sept. 24, 2014

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — The name Tyler Sutton might not mean much to residents of Historic Northeast, but to Scarritt Renaissance neighbors who live near Sutton’s alleged base of operations at 426 Gladstone Boulevard, his arrest and charging comes as welcome news.

Neighbors have long lived with criminal activity connected to the Gladstone residence, including prostitution, drug dealing, theft and loud visitors coming and going at all hours. The house has been “kicked in” on several occasions by law enforcement acting on neighborhood complaints and tips and searched for everything from counterfeit check making equipment to drugs and related paraphernalia. The Scarritt Neighborhood even hosted an open forum that included high ranking police officials, neighbors and beat officers in regard to the problem.

That all came to a head on last Saturday, Sept. 20, when Kansas City Police arrested Sutton. He was booked and charged with three counts related to drug possession and distribution.

According to court documents, Sutton was charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance, a class C felony, and one count of possession with intent to distribute, a class B felony. Prosecutors asked for a $20,000 bond, but the judge only granted a $10,000, 10 percent. Prosecutors received a special condition on Sutton’s bond prohibiting him from returning to 426 Gladstone Blvd. at any time.

“These charges represent what can happen when a community and law enforcement work together,” Jean Peters Baker, Jackson County prosecutor, said. “I want to specifically thank the residents of Scarritt Renaissance [Neighborhood], the men and women of the Kansas City Police Department and Jackson County DART [Drug Abatement Response Team] for their collaborative efforts that have led to these felony charges.”

Major Rick Smith of the KCPD East Patrol added, “we’re happy to work with the Scarritt Neighborhood and the Prosecutor’s office on taking Tyler Sutton out of the community.”

“I’m frankly delighted. This shows that if you persevere as a community and work with Police, good things can happen in the neighborhood,” said Leslie Caplan, President of the Scarritt Renaissance Neighborhood Association. “This is wonderful news”

Assistant prosecutors Julie Hamilton and Sarah Castle led the state’s prosecution effort. Sutton was previously convicted in California for possession of a controlled substance, theft, grand theft, vehicle theft, burglary, forgery, possessing a bad check or money order, auto theft, possession of forged notes and receiving stolen property. He was also convicted of making counterfeit securities of political subdivisions of a state and of organizations. In Missouri, he’s been convicted of forgery, possession of a controlled substance, credit card theft and tampering with an airplane motorboat and/or automobile. He’s also been charged in Kansas and Florida.