KY state trooper sentenced to 5 years in prison for traffic stop assault
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- Kilbourne pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five years in prison.
- Kilbourne was sued alleging tasing, baton strikes and facial and dental injuries.
- State police moved to fire him; he was placed on leave and proceedings remain pending.
A Kentucky State Police trooper was sentenced Monday to five years in prison for beating a man with his baton during a 2023 traffic stop.
Hayden Kilbourne, 28, pleaded guilty in January to second-degree assault and third-degree terroristic threatening. In addition to beating the man, Attorney General Russell Coleman said he threatened to kill him.
Coleman said he used his police baton to injure a man and threatened to kill him during a 2023 traffic stop. State police spokesperson Sherry Bray said Kilbourne resigned Jan. 13.
State Police Commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr. said Kilbourne’s actions were unacceptable.
“The Kentucky State Police is committed to serving the commonwealth with integrity, respect, and fairness,” Burnett said in a statement to the Herald-Leader. “Transparency and accountability are paramount to maintaining the public’s trust and we will continue to hold our personnel to a higher standard.”
On July 28, 2023, Kilbourne and another trooper joined a police chase for a stolen vehicle, according to a complaint filed by Kilbourne in Franklin Circuit Court. The vehicle eventually stopped on Interstate 71 in Carroll County, and Kilbourne and the other trooper chased the suspect through the woods and arrested him.
During the arrest, Kilbourne “used force” to take the suspect into custody, the complaint said. The suspect, who later filed a lawsuit against Kilbourne in Eastern Kentucky District Federal Court, claimed Kilbourne unnecessarily used a Taser on him and beat him with a baton while he was on the ground and defenseless.
The assault left the suspect with seven stitches in his upper lip, bruising across his face and body, and broken teeth, according to his lawsuit.
Kilbourne was placed on administrative leave the next day, and he was notified Aug. 2 that police planned to fire him, according to court records.
Coleman said he won’t seek probation or shock probation as part of Kilbourne’s guilty plea agreement. Kilbourne must also give up his law enforcement credentials and is not allowed to work as a police officer again.
“‘Backing the Blue,’ means giving our colleagues in law enforcement the benefit of the doubt,” Coleman said in a news release. “However, when someone charged with enforcing the law breaks it, it’s our responsibility to hold them fully accountable.”
What happened in the lawsuit filed by the suspect?
Robert Kidd, who was 20 at the time of the July 2023 incident, was charged with first-degree fleeing or evading police, first-degree wanton endangerment, speeding, resisting arrest, receiving stolen property, possession of marijuana and buying or possessing marijuana. He later pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property, first-degree criminal mischief, first-degree fleeing or evading police and first-degree wanton endangerment, and was sentenced to three years in prison, according to court records.
Kidd is incarcerated at the Oldham County Detention Center and is scheduled to be released August 2026, according to the Kentucky Department of Corrections.
In October 2023, Kidd sued in Eastern Kentucky District Federal Court, claiming the July 2023 assault was “malicious, sadistic, and without justification,” according to court documents. He said he stopped and put his hands in the air during the foot pursuit, but Kilbourne shot him in the back with a Taser and beat him with a baton while he stood over Kidd, who was defenseless on the ground.
Kidd is seeking unspecified punitive damages and any additional relief the court would consider, court documents say. The lawsuit is ongoing.
Kilbourne’s lawsuit
After learning that state police intended to fire Kilbourne, he requested a hearing in front of a trial board. The complaint said he asked for the hearing to take place at the conclusion of his Carroll Circuit Court criminal case, but state police denied the request.
The hearing was initially scheduled for Feb. 1, 2024.
Kilbourne also asked for the hearing to be conducted privately so he wasn’t faced with the possibility of incriminating himself while the criminal case was ongoing, the complaint says. That request was also denied, and Kilbourne filed a lawsuit against state police and Commissioner Phillip Burnett Jr. Jan. 18, 2024, in hopes of a judge granting a private hearing.
One week later, Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate sided with Kilbourne and ordered the hearing to be conducted in closed session, according to court documents.
“The Court agrees that the trial board hearing should be conducted in closed session,” Wingate wrote in his order. “However, at the January 24, 2024, hearing, all parties acknowledged that holding the trial board hearing in closed session does not mean the content of the hearing is forever sealed.”
The board issued a six-month suspension without pay for Kilbourne, according to Bray. The suspension concluded Feb. 15, 2024.
Nearly six months later, state police launched a criminal investigation into the July 2023 incident. Bray said the investigation led to charges being filed Sept. 19.
“Since Mr. Kilbourne was under a felony indictment, he could not serve as a road trooper,” Bray said in a statement to the Herald-Leader. “Therefore, during the criminal case and judicial process, he was administratively assigned to the Office of Technical Services and did not perform any sworn law enforcement duties while the indictment was pending.”
The lawsuit is ongoing in Franklin Circuit Court, and there is no scheduled hearing, according to court records.
This story was originally published February 24, 2026 at 11:56 AM.
