According to the Kansas City Star, Deonta Words, 25, said he was walking to meet a friend May 30 when an unmarked car approached. Words spotted a gun and immediately fled, he told the newspaper.
But the car turned out to be the police, who chased Words and arrested him on outstanding warrants, he said.
While police searched Words, an officer examined the pendant, which Words wears as a necklace, and "dumped it out on the ground," Words told WDAF-TV.
The officer attempted to retrieve the cremains but ended up mixing them with bits of dirt and grass, Words said. Some of the ashes were lost in the dirt, he told the Star.
"The officers said they ran across dozens of people with jewelry with drugs in it," Words told the newspaper. "OK, so if that's the case, why did you go and open it on the dirt? Why are you getting rid of evidence?"
Kansas City police said the officer accidentally spilled the ashes and apologized to Words after learning what they were, KCTV reported.
A department spokesman added that a suspect should "inform police of the contents of any container of sentimental value" before a search, the Star reported.
Police also said Words was inside a truck when officers approached him, not walking on the street. The vehicle had been reported stolen, authorities told the Star.
In addition, Words did not cooperate with officers, "was verbally abusive" and had marijuana, police said.
Words and his family denied the department's claim that the officer had apologized and want police to admit they were wrong.
"That was the last of what I had of her," Words told WDAF.
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