Sergeant James Leach was struck and killed by a vehicle driven by a drunk driver while he was blocking a street filled with pedestrian traffic.

On Saturday, May 2, 1992 at 2:40 a.m. Sgt. Leach was enforcing traffic regulations in Westport, when he and two other men were hit by a drunk driver, 27 year old Joseph A. Smith of Platte Woods, Missouri. Sgt. Leach was standing inside barricades used frequently to block Westport Road, ensuring that cars didn't enter the street packed with pedestrian traffic. The suspect intentionally sped up and drove through a barricade gate and forced his car under a barricade chain. Smith screamed Rodney King and sped east on Westport Road, crashed through the barricades hitting Sgt. Leach and another man, drove at a high speed from the scene, then crashed through another set of barricades just west of Broadway. The suspect attempted to flee the scene on foot but was captured. As he was strapped to a backboard, in preparation to be taken to the hospital, he was heard to say that he would only get 2 or 3 years for manslaughter for killing a cop.

Sgt. Leach and another man were pronounced dead at area hospitals. A third victim sustained minor injuries. The suspect was charged with two counts of second degree murder and armed criminal action. The suspect's blood alcohol content at the time of the crash was .24. He was driving on a suspended license for a previous D.U.I. The suspect was convicted of second degree murder and armed criminal action and sent to prison with two consecutive life sentences for murder and ten consecutive years for armed criminal action. The suspect unsuccessfully appealed his conviction in 1994. He was denied parole in 2004.

Sergeant Leach served with the Kansas City Police Department for 14 years and was assigned to Metro Patrol Division. He was survived by his wife, son and daughter. Interred: Mt Moriah Cemetery, Kansas City, MO.