A Lawrence police officer was under investigation for two months last year after he was accused of attacking a man inside a Tecumseh strip club, a Journal-World investigation has found.

The officer, Kyle Owens, resigned his position with the Lawrence Police Department shortly after the investigation concluded. No criminal charges were filed against him, and he is currently working for another Kansas police department.

It remains unclear whether Owens was on duty at the time of the reported attack and whether he was placed on suspension during the investigation. Citing the matter as a personnel issue, Lawrence Police Chief Tarik Khatib declined to comment on the accusations against Owens.

Since 2014, at least three additional Lawrence police officers — Nicolas Simon, William Burke and Frank McClelland — have been investigated amid accusations of violence. All three resigned their positions with LPD, though both Burke and McClelland remain certified to work as police officers. Simon’s certification was revoked in 2015. Only McClelland was charged with a crime: a single misdemeanor battery charge.

The reported battery involving Owens took place around 3 a.m. on April 17, 2016 at 7128 SE U.S. Highway 40, according to an offense report filed by the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office.

The address belongs to Tommi Knockers, an adult nightclub in Tecumseh.

There, Owens was accused of battering Elijah Masquat, 36, who had a warrant out for his arrest in Shawnee County at the time, said Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Mike Kolbeck.

Masquat has an extensive criminal history in Douglas County, court records show. Between 2007 and 2016, he has been convicted on a number of criminal counts, including drug offenses, assault on a law enforcement officer, theft, assault and obstruction of the legal process.

Attempts to reach both Owens and Masquat were unsuccessful.

A deputy arrived on the scene shortly after 4 a.m. and left in less than an hour, the offense report says. Masquat was arrested and booked into the Shawnee County Jail. Owens was not.

Kolbek said he could offer more specific details surrounding the incident.

The Journal-World’s request for body camera footage from the responding deputy has not been fulfilled as of Friday.

The deputy’s report indicates Owens and Masquat are familiar with each other and that Masquat was not injured in the reported battery.

After the incident, Kolbek said Khatib reached out to Shawnee County Sheriff Herman Jones and asked his agency to investigate.

“I got that information and assigned it to a detective, who conducted a very thorough investigation,” he said.

The results of the investigation were submitted to the Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office on June 17, 2016, Kolbek said.

At the time, Chad Taylor was serving as the Shawnee County District Attorney. He was succeeded in January by Michael Kagay.

Charles Kitt, chief of staff for the Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office, said due to the recent administration change he could not speak about the office’s investigation at length. He did say, however, that on Sept. 1, Taylor declined to press charges against Owens due to a lack of evidence.

Owens resigned about a week before the district attorney notified Owens that he would not be pressing charges.

Owens’ resignation marked the fourth instance where a Lawrence police officer has resigned amid allegations of violence since 2014. When asked whether those numbers were indicative of a larger problem within the department, Khatib said he was “proud of the high level of accountability we hold ourselves to,” and that the department takes appropriate actions when officers do not meet expectations.

“I think that is the real story, and not whether there is an issue or problem at the department,” Khatib said. “We are an agency of 187 employees. Mistakes and misconduct will occur. It’s a reality of our humanity and the stress of the job.”

Every time an officer leaves a police department in Kansas, no matter the reason, the agency is obligated to file a Notice of Termination or Status Change document to the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and Training within 30 days.

KS-CPOST is the agency responsible for certifying officers to work within the state.

On a Notice of Termination or Status Change document, each agency is required to explain if an officer’s departure was a resignation or a termination and then elaborate on the nature of those circumstances.

Michelle Meier, counsel for KS-CPOST, said the forms are often used to launch investigations into an officer’s actions, which can lead to the revocation of a certification.

Owens’ Notice of Termination or Status Change document was signed by Khatib, noting his last day as Aug. 25, 2016.

In December KS-CPOST reached out to LPD with a “request for clarification” on Owens’ document, Lawrence Police Sgt. Amy Rhoads said. “We re-submitted the form in December.”

Both versions of the document are heavily redacted.

Meier declined to say whether Owens is under investigation or has been investigated. Currently, however, his certificate to work as a police officer in Kansas remains in good standing and he is actively working as an officer somewhere else in the state, Meier said. As of Friday, however, she had not yet fulfilled a request from the Journal-World for more precise information on where he is now working.

Details from KS-CPOST are already severely limited to the public, and state lawmakers are considering a bill that would close off even more information.

If approved, the bill, HB 2070, would allow KS-CPOST to deny requests seeking Notice of Status Change or Termination documents, referring those inquiries back to the agency that originally filed the paperwork.

In a written response to questions, Khatib said generally when a police department hires an officer who worked at another department “they may receive a copy of the KS-CPOST form.”

“This would generally cue the department into the circumstances surrounding the officer’s departure from his/her previous department,” he wrote.

However, Doug Anstaet, executive director of the Kansas Press Association, which testified against the legislation, said frequently that information isn’t requested by hiring departments.

“We are often amazed by how little of this information is sought, or shared, between elected officials who make these important decisions,” he wrote in testimony to the legislature.

And with little information available to the public — less if HB 2070 is passed — Anstaet said obscuring the reason why a police officer lost his or her job could send any potential issues down the road to whoever hires the officer next.