KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Gun charges have been dismissed against a KCK woman and she’s giving credit to FOX 4. FOX 4 brought attention to Tanya Beck’s case two weeks ago.
A KCK judge threw out the case on Monday before Beck could hardly speak. Two weeks ago, the 57-year-old was ticketed for firing a gun on her property after she says a stranger tried to climb into her backyard.
Click here to see the original story.
Beck’s shot missed but she was still cited for criminal use of a weapon for what she claims was obvious self-defense. What really bothers her was that she didn’t even know about the ticket until she was told by FOX 4. At the time, police told FOX 4 officers hand victims their tickets in person and make victims sign them. That didn’t happen in this case.
“There was no signature on the ticket and when I approached the judge, the judge politely told me the major of the police department dismissed the case,” Beck said.
Beck said the ticket showed up in her mailbox more than a week after the original interview she did with FOX 4. Beck said she was stunned that she was ticketed.
“I was in fear of my life, I was protecting myself,” she said.
Beck says she was armed in the backyard because the night before, two men had tried to break in through her back door but were chased off by her dog. Police confirm they responded to the break-in but admit they didn’t write a report until Beck called them the next morning about the stranger on her fence.
“I doubt very seriously if they’re going to do anything,” she said. “I really seriously think that they probably wish my name would just disappear.”
Beck says she left court vindicated but still wants at least one thing from the police.
“I would like to have an apology but I know that probably won’t ever happen,” she said.
She’d like to at least hear police explain why they agreed to dismiss her ticket.
“”I definitely think FOX 4 had a lot to do with it I would not have known about any of this if it was not for Channel 4, and thank you,” she said.
Beck gave her gun to police after shooting at the man on her fence. The police say they plan to return the gun as soon as possible and will apologize for any inconvenience she was caused. Police say they feel they did nothing wrong but after reviewing the law Beck was within her constitutional right to protect herself. The department is also reviewing procedures to determine how she was issued a ticket without her knowledge.