A Missouri Senate candidate faces allegations he assaulted the vice chair of the Jackson County Republican Party during a dispute over an overflowing toilet.

David Martin, a Republican in a three-way primary for Senate District 11, is alleged to have punched Teresa McBride, the county party vice chair, in the back during a Father’s Day appreciation BBQ that Martin held at party headquarters in Blue Springs last Saturday.

Blue Springs police responded a little before 3 p.m. and issued Martin a citation, with the candidate becoming upset at the officers on the scene, according to an incident report obtained by The Star. The report lists Martin as the offender on a charge of simple assault and lists McBride as the victim.

“Mr. Martin became more irate advising this charge was unwarranted and this charge was going to ruin his campaign,” Officer Brian Lankard wrote in a narrative of his investigation.

According to Lankard’s narrative, Martin told the officer he had reserved party headquarters for the BBQ and that one of the guests had clogged the building’s toilet causing an overflow into the meeting hall and onto the carpet. The guest isn’t identified in the report.

Martin said he was cleaning up when McBride and Carolyn Caton, a Republican candidate for Missouri House District 33, arrived and began demanding he pay for a professional cleaning of the carpet. An argument ensued, with Martin telling the officer that he felt verbally attacked by the two women and their husbands.

The situation, Martin told the officer, was a “ploy to ruin his campaign” because McBride was supporting one of his opponents.

When The Star reached Martin by phone on Thursday morning, he said he had a call on another line and would call back. After several hours, Martin didn’t respond to a second call.

McBride and Caton, who is also the county party secretary, both declined to comment.

Senate District 11 is currently held by Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, an Independence Democrat who is terming out. The district covers a broad swath of eastern Jackson County, from Blue Summit to Oak Grove.

In the GOP primary, Martin faces Joe Nicola of Grain Valley and Rep. Aaron McMullen of Independence. Whoever wins the primary will face Rep. Robert Sauls, an Independence Democrat, in the November election.

On his campaign website, Martin says he is a truck driver. The site highlights his views on school choice, state finances and crime reduction. “Our Police Officers and first responders work hard to keep our communities safe,” the site says.

Lankard wrote that another officer spoke with McBride, Caton and another person who all said that during the argument Martin followed the two women into the parking lot screaming at them to leave “before he punched Ms. McBride on the back between her shoulder blades.”

A copy of the citation alleges Martin punched McBride “on the back with a closed fist” during the argument.

Someone then called the police. When officers arrived, Caton told them that Martin had locked himself inside party headquarters and had taken a volunteer hostage, Lankard wrote.

Lankard wrote that he contacted Martin through the building’s glass door. Martin was highly agitated and the volunteer appeared distraught, he wrote, adding that he convinced Martin to open the door and let officers inside. The volunteer told police she wasn’t concerned for her safety and didn’t feel that Martin was holding her against her will, but that she was upset and “just wanted all this nonsense to end.”

After Lankard issued Martin a citation, the officer wrote, he accused him of conducting a mediocre investigation and had only taken statements from his opposition, not supporters. He said he would complain to Lankard’s supervisors.

A Sgt. Emberton – his full name isn’t given in the report – responded to speak with Martin.

“During their conversation, I overheard Sgt. Emberton ask Mr. Martin if he had been drinking due to the odor of an intoxicating beverage coming from his breath and the fact that Mr. Martin tended to spit at Sgt. Emberton as he yelled about the situation,” the officer wrote.

Emberton ended the conversation by telling Martin to get a ride.