Two Kansas City women are suing a former private security guard and the company that employed him, alleging he used his uniform, badge and marked patrol vehicle to detain and sexually assault them on public streets near Benton Boulevard. The lawsuits come after 42-year-old Brandon S. Wells pleaded guilty in June to six counts, including kidnapping, sodomy and rape, tied to attacks on two separate women in the summer of 2023. The Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney's Office identifies fourth-degree assault, one of the six counts, as a misdemeanor.
The civil suits, filed in Jackson County Circuit Court by the law firm Monsees & Mayer, name Wells along with his former employer, U.S. Protective Service, and related entities including United States Protective Services LLC and United States Protective Service Inc., according to KCTV. Both women, proceeding under the pseudonyms Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2, are seeking compensatory damages and have demanded jury trials. The suits allege that U.S. Protective Service and related entities gave Wells substantial authority and control over members of the public, and that the company failed to properly hire, retain and supervise him despite knowing or having reason to know he was unfit or unsafe.
How the Attacks Unfolded on Benton Boulevard
Jane Doe 1's lawsuit alleges Wells stopped her near 8th Street and Benton Boulevard on August 1, 2023. According to details released by the Jackson County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, the encounter began when she grabbed a recycling bin near a vacant apartment to move her belongings, prompting Wells to pull up in his security vehicle and order her to put it back before handcuffing her. She alleges he then lifted her shirt and pulled out her pants waistband before forcing her to perform sexual acts behind a nearby building, after which he released her. Tyson L. Daniel, identified as the owner or operator of the property where she was first detained, was also named as a defendant in her lawsuit.
Jane Doe 2's case centers on a July 9, 2023 encounter near 10th Street and Benton Boulevard, where she alleges Wells and another security officer detained her and a friend for alleged trespassing. Kansas City Police Department officers initially responded to that scene but were called away to another emergency, according to court records released by the prosecutor's office, leaving her in Wells' custody. She alleges Wells told her she was going to jail before driving her alone to a Waffle House parking lot on Front Street, where she says he raped her.
Surveillance Footage and a Cell Phone Trail
Surveillance video from that Waffle House location reportedly captured Wells' marked vehicle arriving with Jane Doe 2, showing him interacting with her in the back seat before driving behind a dumpster, where arguing and screaming were recorded, per the prosecutor's office. Waffle House, Inc., which owned or operated the property and had contracted with U.S. Protective Service for security, was named as a defendant in Jane Doe 2's lawsuit. Both lawsuits claim Wells used his uniform, marked patrol vehicle and authority over the women to facilitate the assaults.
Investigators did not immediately connect the July 9 attack to Wells. The Jackson County Prosecutor's Office reported that KCPD detectives only uncovered the assault of Jane Doe 2 on August 10, 2023, after reviewing calls for service logged directly on Wells' personal cell phone records. Wells was criminally charged later that year and taken into custody in Florida on August 16, 2023, where he was held on a $500,000 cash bond, according to the prosecutor's office.
Guilty Plea Now in Question Before Sentencing
In June, Wells pleaded guilty to two counts of kidnapping, rape or attempted rape in the first degree, sodomy or attempted sodomy in the first degree, fourth-degree assault, and tampering with electronic monitoring equipment. Under Missouri law, first-degree rape or attempted rape and first-degree sodomy or attempted sodomy are unclassified felonies each carrying potential sentences of up to life imprisonment, per the prosecutor's office.
But Wells has since filed a motion to withdraw that plea, according to court records, arguing he is innocent. He claims his former attorneys used aggressive, threatening and intimidating conduct, and that one lawyer threatened to abandon the case if he did not accept the deal. Wells also claims his attorneys warned him he would face consecutive life sentences if he went to trial. A judge is expected to consider the request at a hearing scheduled for September 2, ahead of Wells' sentencing, which remains set for September 11. Dates for the civil lawsuits have not yet been set.
Limits on Private Security Authority Under Scrutiny
The allegations against Wells arrive amid broader questions about how far private security guards' authority extends in Kansas City. Under Kansas City Missouri Police Department Private Officers Licensing Unit regulations, the described police powers of Class A licensed private security officers are limited to the specific private property they are contracted to protect and do not extend onto public streets. Wells' alleged detentions near Benton Boulevard took place on public thoroughfares, outside those boundaries.
Kansas City regulations also address licensing requirements and firearms-training verification for private security guard applicants. Security companies must additionally carry at least $1 million in general liability insurance naming the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners as an additional insured to obtain a business license. Whether U.S. Protective Service met those screening and insurance requirements remains an open question in the litigation.
The case echoes concerns raised after a Westport security guard fired a gun during a physical altercation on Sunday, August 23, 2026. KCPD opened an investigation, and the Wells lawsuits were filed on August 26, 2026. Both cases have renewed local scrutiny over how much power uniformed private guards actually hold once they step off the property they were hired to protect.
