Hutchinson ? The Kansas Bureau of Investigation has agreed to investigate a complaint filed against a Hutchinson police officer over a confrontation with a man who had dated the officer’s daughter.

Reno County prosecutor Keith Schroeder witnessed the Nov. 22 incident and will not get involved in the probe.

Stacy Hem, 25, filed a complaint with the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People alleging Capt. Troy Hoover, who is the department’s assistant chief, told him to stay away from his daughter and then grabbed him by the neck.

The Hutchinson News reported Saturday that the incident happened outside the local Law Enforcement Center. Hoover was placed on administrative leave after an internal investigation and Police Chief Dick Heitschmidt asked for the KBI investigation.

Schroeder said he had submitted a statement to law enforcement after witnessing the confrontation. He said he was standing in front of the courthouse when he heard a disturbance and noticed two men standing “nose to nose” yelling at each other.

“I did see physical contact, but it appeared to be a defensive maneuver by Hoover to retreat,” Schroeder told the newspaper. “He made a sweeping move with his arm, a defensive sweep, to clear the distance between the two.

“Certainly, what I saw appeared to be a mutual argument. (Hoover) certainly didn’t choke him.”

Schroeder said he learned that Hoover’s daughter had reported to the sheriff’s office the previous day that Hem had harassed her by telephone.

Hem denied the allegation. He told The Hutchinson News that Hoover’s daughter, Katie Hoover, had made the report to the sheriff’s office after their breakup, but that he hadn’t been in contact with her since the split.

Hem said Hoover confronted him, warning him to stay away from his daughter.

“I told him, ‘Sir, I don’t even talk to your daughter,'” Hem said. “He grabbed me by the throat and said, ‘Do you understand me?'”

Three other police officers saw the confrontation, Hem said.

“Why would I report it to police when they witnessed it and didn’t do (expletive)?” he said. “They’re making me out to be a criminal person, a thug.

“All I’m guilty of,” Hem said, is having a relationship “with the second-in-command’s daughter and breaking up with her.”