A second civil lawsuit claims a Louisville Metro Police sergeant canceled an emergency call involving an active Domestic Violence Order (DVO), leaving a woman unprotected for three hours.
The complaint states that neighbors called 911 around 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, reporting shouting, threats, banging and that a man had taken a woman’s phone. They also said the man had caused trouble at the home before.
Minutes later, an officer reported on the LMPD radio channel that the man inside the home, 58-year-old Richard Gregory, was under an active DVO meant to protect the woman living there.
According to the lawsuit, despite Kentucky law and LMPD policy requiring officers to arrest suspects when DVOs are violated, radio audio shows Sgt. Todd Jenkins instructing dispatch to cancel the two units headed to the scene.
When dispatch informed him no other officers were available, Jenkins replied that he would “head that way slowly,” but never began driving to the home. He told dispatch to update him “if it gets violent,” the lawsuit says.
Records show the cancellation happened 33 minutes before a shift change, violating dispatch rules that require priority responses regardless of shift timing.
More than three hours passed without officers arriving.
During that time, Gregory allegedly threatened the victim with a hammer, pliers and a knife. He is accused of beating and suffocating her and threatening to kill her.
The victim’s attorney says they later learned officers responded to lower-priority incidents instead, including a disturbance at a McDonald’s drive-thru, an abandoned vehicle, a false alarm at a paint store, and a loud neighbor complaint.
Officers finally reached the home around 9:27 p.m., which caused Gregory to flee. The victim escaped into the hallway, covered in blood and suffering critical, permanent injuries.
“This was not confusion. It was a choice to override Kentucky’s safety rules and even LMPD’s own rules,” said David Barber of Thomas Law Offices. “Everyone knew—same man, same woman, active court order—yet Sgt. Jenkins canceled the call. He said he’d ‘head there slowly’ and waited until ‘it gets violent.’ That is not discretion. That is abandonment of duty.”
The lawsuit also claims incident records obtained from LMPD and MetroSafe did not include Jenkins’ involvement, which only came to light after subpoenas and reviews of radio traffic and body camera footage. According to the complaint, his identity and actions were also kept from the Commonwealth’s Attorney prosecuting Gregory.
On September 23, 2025, Gregory pleaded guilty to unlawful imprisonment, assault, strangulation, intimidating a participant in the legal process, violating a protective order, terroristic threatening and menacing.
During his Nov. 17, 2025 hearing, he was sentenced to 10 years, to be served concurrently, with no option for probation or shock probation.
The second lawsuit seeks damages for negligence and gross negligence tied to the victim’s permanent injuries.
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