'Made a dumb mistake': KHP officer fired after bar incident

TOPEKA (KSNT) - A Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP) officer had his badge stripped by the Kansas Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (KCPOST) after a complaint alleged he criminally deprived an individual of their property while out playing billiards with friends.

On March 12, 2022, KHP Officer Aaron Plum was drinking and playing billiards at a bar in Shawnee County, according to court documents.  The victim was playing pool with Plum's friend. The victim's jackets were on a table close to Plum and his friends.

When the victim went to close his bar tab, he noticed his jacket containing his debit card was missing. The victim went to the bar and asked Plum's group of friends if anyone had taken his jackets. Plum's friend leaned in and whispered that if someone took the jackets it was Plum, according to the KCPOST summary.

The victim confronted Plum about taking the jackets but he denied taking them. Plum's friend showed the victim Plum's vehicle where he saw his jackets in the front passenger seat, according to the KCPOST summary.

A witness said Plum initially denied the vehicle was his but eventually returned the property to the victim. After learning Plum was a law enforcement officer, the victim repeatedly asked him for his badge number but he refused to provide it, according to the KCPOST summary.

Respondent [Plum] told W.B. [the victim] that the jackets were just lying there, he made a dumb mistake, and didn't know what he was thinking.

Excerpt from the KCPOST Summary of Revocation

Plum was issued a summons for the first case hearing on May 24, 2024. Throughout the case events, Plum represented himself pro se. The case was dismissed in a post-deferred adjudication on May 31, 2023, when Plum entered into a one-year diversion agreement for the misdemeanor charge of criminal deprivation of property, according to the Shawnee County case summary No. 2022-CR-000893.

As a result of the incident, KCPOST found Plum failed to maintain good moral character sufficient to warrant public trust as a law enforcement officer (LEO). As a result, KCPOST ordered Plum's LEO certification to be revoked on Aug. 16, 2023, according to the KCPOST summary of revocation.