Speedway case hearing begins in shooting

Detective Susan Brown was guarding a vault building at Kansas Speedway when she saw a masked man approach with a gun in his hand. After telling a worker to get inside, Brown pulled her handgun and tried to shut the door, she said. But before she could get the door closed, an object — later determined to be a handgun — was jammed into the space between the door and its frame, near the hinges. That’s when the gunfire started and she was critically injured, Brown testified during a preliminary hearing Tuesday for two men, Fredrick Douglas and Nolden Garner, who are accused of attempting to rob the speedway the evening of Oct. 1. During the hearing, a worker overseeing the operations of the vault building testified that at the time of the robbery attempt, workers were getting ready to move about $1 million after a weekend of racing. The robbers struck just after workers had moved eight $500 boxes of quarters into a minivan outside the vault building. At the end of testimony, Wyandotte County Judge Robert L. Serra ordered both Douglas, 66, of Kansas City, Kan., and Garner, 51, of Grandview to stand trial. They are charged with attempted capital murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated battery, aggravated burglary and attempted aggravated robbery. Attorneys for the men entered not-guilty pleas on their behalf. The men are not thought to have gotten away with any money. The day’s testimony outlined the evidence that linked the men to the crime, including testimony by a detective who said Garner admitted to the crime and that a third person was involved. That person provided aprons and caps that would allow Douglas and Garner into the area where the vault was located, Howard testified. A spokesman for the Wyandotte County district attorney’s office said this week that no one else has been charged in connection with the case. In her emotional testimony, Brown testified that she was shot between four and six times. She suffered injuries to her right shoulder, right wrist and a leg. She testified that at least one of the suspects continued to shoot at her when she was lying on the ground wounded. Kansas City Star