Oakview office acquitted of assault charge

OAKVIEW, Mo. (AP) - A police officer in a Kansas City suburb wants to be reinstated to her job after being acquitted of assaulting a 90-year-old man during a 2009 traffic stop.

A Clay County jury acquitted Oakview police officer 41-year-old Kimberly A. Whyley this week of third-degree assault, a misdemeanor.

Authorities say Whyley pulled Phillip Joseph Forte in February 2009 in a strip mall parking lot for driving with no headlights. The officer said Forte resisted arrest.

Forte later died of an unrelated condition.

Whyley's attorney, Bert M. Godding, said Whyley, who has been suspended without pay since the incident, wants her job back.

The Kansas City Star reports (http://bit.ly/Kv03sn) Clay County Prosecutor Daniel White said he was disappointed with the verdict.