Kansas man wrongly imprisoned for 15 years to be awarded $7.5 million
27 April 2023
TOPEKA (KSNT) – A Topeka mother is pleading for help from the public to find the man she said hurt her and their baby Tuesday afternoon.
Brittni Grogg and her 9-month-old son, Waylon, are all smiles now. But on April 25, that wasn’t the case. Grogg said she and her son were at the home of Tanner Thompson, Waylon’s dad. She said Tanner demanded she get off the phone and threatened her.
“He threatened to slap me prior to getting on the phone,” she said. “I said I wasn’t hanging up the phone call and I wanted to make sure somebody was on the phone with me at all times.”
Grogg said the fight continued until Thompson asked her to leave his home. She called the police, but said he threatened to slap the baby if she didn’t hang up the phone. She didn’t because officers were on the way. She said Tanner followed through with his threat, slapping Waylon on his face and knocking him and the car seat to the concrete, which left a bruise and bump on the baby’s forehead.
“It was heartbreaking,” Grogg recalled. “Super heartbreaking, because minutes prior, he kissed Waylon on the cheek and said he loves him and he’ll see him in a couple of weeks. And then he slapped him across his face and then pushed us down the porch.”
Grogg said this wasn’t the first time a fight between them got physical, but for her, this was the final straw.
“I hate myself for it,” she said. “Because I know the person he is, and I should have never believed him when he said that everything was OK and everything was going to change. It was just a matter of time. He was being nice and then back to what he was.”
As of Wednesday, the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office is still looking for Thompson. Officers said when they tried to speak to him at his home, he was not there.
“I wish he just turn himself in and accept what he did,” Grogg said.
They are asking for the community’s help to find him. If you have any information, call the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office at (785) 251-2200.
If you or someone you know is in a domestic violence situation, there is help. The National Domestic Violence Hotline number is (800) 799-7233. The YWCA and the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence are also available in Topeka.