Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City, Mo., man who fired at a gas station clerk was charged in federal court today with illegally possessing a firearm and crack cocaine to distribute.

Reginald Lucas, 59, was charged in a three-count criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo.

Today’s complaint charges Lucas with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm, one count of possessing crack cocaine with the intent to distribute, and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.

According to an affidavit filed in support of today’s criminal complaint, Lucas entered agas station near Prospect Avenue and East 35th Street at about 5:15 a.m. on Dec. 28, 2012. Lucas pointed a handgun at the store clerk and threatened him, then moved to the doorway and fired a shot in the direction of the clerk (who was not injured). Lucas fled from the store, got into a red Nissan Altima, and drove away.

Kansas City police officers who were called to the store found a bullet hole in the ceiling above where the clerk had been standing, and recovered a 9mm shell housing on the ground near the door. Gas station surveillance video provided images of Lucas firing the handgun and fleeing in the Altima.

Police officers were returning to the gas station at about 6:11 a.m. the same day when they saw the Altima, being driven by an unidentified woman with Lucas a passenger. Lucas got out of the vehicle and, when he saw the police officers approach, ran away on foot carrying a gray bag. Officers chased Lucas and took him into custody. Officers found a clear baggie of crack cocaine that contained 58 individually wrapped baggies that weighed a total of 20.95 grams and a smaller baggie that contained a total of 2.85 grams of crack cocaine in Lucas’s jacket pocket, and another 4.98 grams of crack cocaine in his pants pocket.

Officers asked Lucas if he had any identification, and he nodded towards the gray bag, which was hanging on a fence. Officers opened the bag and found a loaded CANIK Century Arms 9mm semi-automatic, individually wrapped baggies that contained a total of 92.81 grams of marijuana, and 22 loose prescription pills.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Lucas has prior convictions for murder with a deadly weapon and  robbery.

The charges contained in this complaint are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Foley. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Project Safe Neighborhoods

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.