An 80-year-old Raytown man was charged with three felonies Friday for chasing and shooting at a man and a pregnant woman he thought had stolen iron pipe from his business.
David G. Jungerman, who made headlines in October 2017 for shooting a homeless man connected to the killing of a Brookside attorney, was being held on $1 million bond.
Jungerman believed the couple had stolen 780 pounds of iron pipe from his Raytown business on Thursday afternoon, according to the Jackson County Prosecutor's office. He followed the couple in his Toyota Sequoia, calling 911 during the pursuit, and ended up at a recycling business in northeast Kansas City, according to charging documents.
He could be heard on an obscenities-laden 911 call accusing the man, shooting his weapon and telling police “I’ve got a gun on him,” the charging documents say. He allegedly brandished a .38 caliber handgun and fired what he told Kansas City Police was a warning shot, all caught on the recycling business’s surveillance video.
“Missing him would have hurt my pride,” Jungerman told police. He described the shooting as simply a “warning,” according to a police report.
Jungerman's name appeared in news reports after the killing of Thomas Pickert, a 39-year-old attorney shot on the front porch of his Brookside home in October 2017, though police said he wasn’t a suspect.
Pickert represented a homeless man Jungerman had shot and maimed, and a $5.75 million verdict had been delivered against Jungerman. Pickert’s death remains unsolved.
Jungerman told The Kansas City Star in October that speculation about his alleged involvement in the Pickert killing had ruined his reputation and that he had lost friends because of it.
““They look at me like I’m a murderer,” Jungerman told the Star.
Jungerman is charged with armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon and fourth-degree assault. If convicted on all three counts, he could face eight years in prison and fines of $30,000.
Peggy Lowe is an investigative reporter at KCUR. She's on Twitter @peggyllowe.
