Amarillo City Hall Remains Silent on Police Chief's Hit-and-Run Allegations

The Mystery Surrounding the Hit-and-Run Incident

Amarillo City Hall was expected to issue a statement regarding Assistant Police Chief Ken Funtek's alleged hit-and-run incident. However, it seems that this statement will not be released as planned. After not being able to secure an interview with Funtek on Monday, ABC 7 News reached out to Amarillo Police Department (APD) early Tuesday morning.

"We were told City Hall would put out a statement. We are no longer lead on this," said an APD spokesperson. The news outlet had wanted to ask Funtek about his actions on June 19 when he allegedly struck an SUV in the parking lot of Macaroni Joe’s before driving away.

Despite these efforts, the city never released a statement. ABC 7 also tried to reach out to the city for an interview with City Manager Grayson Path, but there was no response. Path is currently in the process of searching for a new police chief after Martin Birkenfeld retired in February. Birkenfeld had written a letter supporting former Perryton football coach Cole Underwood, who was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for having sex with a student.

As reported by ABC 7, the city paid Birkenfeld $175,000 to retire. The station also contacted Mayor Cole Stanley and all four city council members for comments. At 11:41 a.m., Stanley mentioned that “COA will release a statement” based on information from the city manager. He declined further comment, stating that “this is internal and I don’t have anything to add.”

Councilman Les Simpson simply said “no thank you!” and directed ABC 7 to the city manager. Councilman David Prescott was out of town and suggested contacting Grayson Path. Councilman Don Tipps expressed confidence in Acting Chief Johnson and the city manager, saying, “I am confident in acting Chief Johnson and our City manager to investigate and take the appropriate action.” When asked if he was aware of an investigation within the past 40 days, Tipps responded, “I believe so.”

Councilman Tim Reid did not respond to the request for comment.

The Interim Police Chief's Statement

Late Tuesday, Interim Police Chief Jimmy Johnson issued a statement addressing the situation. “We are aware of inaccurate reports labeling the incident as a hit-and-run. That is incorrect,” said Johnson. “Officers responded to the scene under reports of a potential hit-and-run; however, after reviewing witness affidavits collected at the scene and conducting further investigation, they confirmed that the parties exchanged insurance information as required by the Texas Transportation Code.”

However, ABC 7’s reporting is based on APD’s own crash report. Officer Christopher Alber filled out the form and selected the box for hit-and-run. This report was then submitted to the state within 10 days as required by law. According to the Texas Transportation Code (TTC) 550.062, any law enforcement officer who investigates a crash and completes a Texas Peace Officer's Report (CR3) must submit the report to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) no later than the 10th day after the crash date.

If Alber’s report is inaccurate, it was never corrected or resubmitted to the state. On Monday morning, APD stated that it would forward the request for an interview with Funtek to Johnson. However, the department never approved or denied the request. By Tuesday, APD claimed, “we are no longer lead on this.”

Expecting a statement from city hall, APD sent a press release at 4:12 p.m. If there are questions about the hit-and-run, readers are encouraged to send an email to kviinews@sbgtv.com.