Welcome to Crime Scene KC!

By Greg Reeves
This is a backdated post, written on Oct. 15, 2005.

You're looking at an archive of the first day of this blog: Aug. 1, 2005. Through Sept. 7, 2005, the blog was in experimental form.

All we did was cut-and-paste full-length crime-related articles from The Star - stuff you can already find elsewhere on our Website. Now we just link to those stories.

We thought it would be helpful to stick this post on the top of the first day.

KCPD: Scammers bullying seniors

From the Kansas City Police Department fraud unit:

Recently, the Fraud Section has received several reports of suspects stealing money from elderly victims by means of intimidation. The general area of occurrence has been from approximately 79th Street south to the Kansas City limits near Grandview.

The suspects contact the victim at the victim's residence and ask to perform various types of work such as tree trimming or roof and minor home repair. Often the suspects and the victim will make a verbal agreement for the price and for the work to be performed. Sometimes the work is started, but not completed or sometimes the suspects will say the job was completed when it was not. The suspects then demand substantially more money than the original quoted amount. The suspects return on a later date and ask for more money, using intimidation. The suspects will tell the victim that they haven't finished paying for the work or the suspects will prey on the elderly victim's inability to remember whether or not they paid at all. So far the suspects have not used physical force to obtain money.

It is advised that all citizens to be aware of these scams. Be cautious of individuals approaching homes and requesting to perform work. If you need work to be done, consult reputable companies by referring to the yellow pages or through personal references. Keep an eye out for your elderly neighbors and relatives.

Man sentenced for tainting chicken with ammonia

EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. - An Albers, Ill., man has been sentenced to 366 days in prison for illegally packing ammonia-tainted chicken that sickened teachers and children at an elementary school in Joliet in 2002. Prosecutors had recommended 18 months in prison for Edward Lee Wuebbels, 46, for lying to federal food authorities. "I never could've imagined how serious this could be," Wuebbels told U.S. District Judge Michael Reagan at the sentencing hearing Friday. "I've learned my lesson." Wuebbels, who was the operations manager at a Granite City, Ill.-based trucking and distribution company, ordered chicken nuggets to be reboxed after receiving them from a St. Louis business where an ammonia leak had occurred in 2001, prosecutors said. The nuggets ended up on cafeteria trays at Laraway Elementary School in Joliet, Ill. On Nov. 25, 2002, more than 150 students and teachers suffered from vomiting, headaches, oral burning and diarrhea after eating the chicken nuggets. Forty of them were taken to local hospitals. Toxicology tests performed on the chicken nuggets revealed levels of anhydrous ammonia that reached 2,500 parts per million. U.S. Occupational and Health Administration standards consider 15 parts per million abnormal in food. Anhydrous ammonia is an industrial chemical used for refrigeration. Wuebbels pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Department of Agriculture and making false statements. Associated Press

Man asks to withdraw plea in death of Fort Hays State student

HAYS, Kan. - One of four people who was charged in the 2003 death of a Fort Hays State University student wants to withdraw his no contest plea, saying testimony at the trial of another defendant exonerates him.

Luis Llamas pleaded no contest in July 2004 to a single count of voluntary manslaughter in the beating death of Clint Johnson, 18, of Healy, and was sentenced to seven years and five months in prison.

Johnson was hurt during a fight and in the parking lot of an apartment complex north of campus during the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2003. He died two days later.

Llamas, initially identified as having swung the bat that reportedly injured Johnson, was one of four people charged. He claims that testimony offered during the trial of Jaime Lopez, who was ultimately acquitted of second-degree murder, proves his innocence.

"The forensic evidence established that the decedent was not struck in the head by a baseball bat," his attorney, Mike Holland, wrote in a three-page motion. "And decedent's death was not caused by a blow to the head but rather his death was caused by the back of decedent's head striking the pavement. Therefore the defendant is innocent."

In the motion, Llamas also claims he had relied on ineffective legal counsel who said he could not receive a fair trial because he is Hispanic.

On Friday, Ellis County District Judge Ed Bouker scheduled a Sept. 28 hearing for the motion.

The two other people charged in Johnson's death also made plea deals and did not go to trial.

Associated Press

Officials aren't sure how they'll carry out teen's sentence

OLATHE, Kan. - Police departments in Johnson County aren't sure how they'll carry out an unusual sentence a judge imposed on a teenager convicted of intentionally vomiting on his teacher.

Johnson County Magistrate Judge Michael Farley on Tuesday sentenced the 17-year-old boy to spend the next four months cleaning up anytime someone gets sick in a police car.

The teen was found guilty of a misdemeanor count of battery for vomiting on his Spanish teacher during the last day of classes at Olathe Northwest High School. Prosecutors said the crime was intentional, but the defense claimed the boy vomited because he was nervous about his final exams.

While the Olathe, Overland Park and Shawnee police departments are still awaiting official word on the sentence and details on how to contact the teenager, they also aren't sure how or if they would use his services.

"I'm sure we would, but nobody's contacted our department and said, `If you have this happen, here's the kid's phone number,'" Shawnee Police Capt. Ron Copeland said.

Normally, when someone throws up in a Shawnee police car, officers hose out what they can, then send the vehicle to a car wash to be detailed.

Police in Overland Park, where a vehicle maintenance manager usually decides if a biohazard company needs to be called in for cleanup, plan to consult a department lawyer about liability issues.

"Are we going to have to provide this guy with a biohazard suit?" Overland Park police spokesman Jim Weaver asked rhetorically. "Are we going to have to provide him with a breathing apparatus? That's a valid question."

Olathe Sgt. Mike Butaud believes that about every month or two someone throws up in an Olathe patrol car. In Shawnee, officers estimate it happens once or twice a year.

"When you have someone who's going to throw up in your car, the first thing you do is pull over right away," Butaud said. "Even if someone's going to clean it up, you don't want to have to drive around with that smell."

Kathleen Rieth, the county's director of juvenile court services, said her office will work with police on how to carry out the sentence.

And just because they have questions and concerns doesn't mean police in Johnson County don't support the judge's attempt to make the punishment fit the crime.

"I really understand the way he's going with this," Butaud said. "He's trying to make it a learning experience so he (the teenager) can really learn the error of his ways."

Brian Costello, the teen's attorney, said the case won't be appealed.

"He feels horrible about what happened," Costello said of his client. "His family has been embarrassed. He's been embarrassed, and he just wants it to be over."

Associated Press

Supreme Court sets execution date for St. Louis man

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The state Supreme Court on Monday set an Aug. 31 execution date for a St. Louis man convicted of killing his wife in 1989.

Timothy Johnston, 44, is one of Missouri's longest-serving death row inmates.

He was convicted of kicking and beating his wife to death June 30, 1989, after a night of drinking at a south St. Louis tavern near their home.

In recent appeals, Johnston has claimed that the lethal injection would violate his constitutional right against cruel and unusual punishment.
Associated Press

Three officers, firefighter injured in apartment blaze

BLACK JACK, Mo. - Three St. Louis County police officers and a firefigher were treated after an apartment fire early Monday, authorities said. The blaze broke out about 4:30 a.m. in Black Jack in north St. Louis County. A passing officer spotted the fire, and offers went inside to help residents get out. Three officers were treated for smoke inhalation. A firefighter was treated for a hand injury. None of the residents were hurt. The apartments were badly damaged. The cause of the fire was under investigation. Associated Press

Car hit by bullets on I-435

An unknown gunman or gunmen shot out the window of a passing car about 6 a.m. Sunday on Interstate 435 near Sni-A-Bar Road, police said. The driver was injured by flying glass, but was not hit by a bullet. The driver said the shots came from an overpass. No one was in custody for the attack on Sunday afternoon. No suspect information was immediately available. — James Hart/The Sta

Missing prosecutor's laptop found in river

BELLEFONTE, Pa. - A missing prosecutor's laptop computer was pulled from a river near the spot where his car was abandoned more than three months ago, police said Monday.

Two fishermen scooped up the computer in their net Saturday in the Susquehanna River, Bellefonte police said. The fishermen turned it over to state police who determined it belonged to Centre County District Attorney Ray F. Gricar.

The computer had a Centre County government tag but its hard drive was gone, making it very unlikely that it will provide police any clues to Gricar's whereabouts, Bellefonte Police Chief Duane Dixon said.

"It's another piece to the puzzle but it doesn't lead us anywhere," Dixon said.

Gricar, 59, vanished on April 15 after going for a drive on his day off. His car was found the next day in Lewisburg, about 45 miles from his home in Bellefonte in central Pennsylvania. The computer was found under a bridge a couple blocks from the parking lot where the car was found.

Authorities had searched the river several times already. Dive teams searched it again Saturday and Sunday but found nothing else, Dixon said. It was not clear how long the computer had been in the river, he said.

Dixon said the water where the laptop was found is about 4 1/2 to 5 feet deep, which is shallower than when divers searched the river after Gricar disappeared.

Police have said they have few credible leads and have not ruled out foul play.

Gricar was supposed to retire in December after more than two decades as Centre County's top prosecutor. So far, the disappearance doesn't appear to be connected to any of his cases, authorities have said.

-GENARO C. ARMAS

Associated Press

ON THE NET

Gricar family: http://www.raygricar.com/

Alcohol-related deaths on highways fall

WASHINGTON - The number of alcohol-related fatalities on U.S. highways dropped for a second straight year, as did traffic deaths overall, the government reported Monday.

The Department of Transportation said alcohol-related fatalities fell 2.4 percent, from 17,105 in 2003 to 16,694 in 2004. Overall, 42,636 people died on the nation's highways in 2004, down 248 - or 0.6 percent - from the previous year.

The decline in traffic deaths for the second straight year was underscored by the growing number of motorists. When measured by the estimated miles driven, the number of deaths per 100 million miles traveled dropped to 1.46.

When the government began record-keeping in 1966, 50,894 people died and the fatality rate was 5.5.

"Drivers are safer today on our nation's highways than they have ever been, in part because of the safer cars, higher safety belt use and stronger safety laws that this department has helped champion," Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta said in a statement.

Alcohol-related deaths dropped to under 17,000 for the first time in five years. Fatalities involving those with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher declined 1.8 percent.

Traffic deaths declined in 27 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. D.C. had the highest percentage decrease, followed by Rhode Island, Minnesota, Montana and Nebraska. Traffic fatalities increased 42 percent in Vermont, the highest in the nation, followed by New Hampshire, New Mexico, Alabama and Oklahoma.

An annual release of statistics on traffic fatalities showed mixed results. Among the findings:

_ Motorcycle fatalities grew nearly 8 percent last year to 4,008, the first time it has topped more than 4,000 deaths since 1987. Motorcycle deaths have increased seven years in a row.

_ Rollover deaths among passenger vehicle occupants increased 1.1 percent to 10,553.

_ Fatalities in sport utility vehicles increased 5.6 percent, up to 4,735. Fatalities in passenger cars, pickup trucks and vans declined.

_ Pedestrian deaths dropped 2.8 percent to 4,641.

_ Deaths involving cyclists grew 15 percent to 725.

_ Fifty-five percent of those killed in passenger vehicles were not wearing seat belts. That was down from 56 percent in 2003.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that highway crashes cost society more than $230 billion a year, or about $820 per person.

--KEN THOMAS

Associated Press

ON THE NET

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov

Man shot near Olathe park

A man suffered minor injuries when he was shot near a park in Olathe last night.

The shooting was reported just after 8 p.m. Sunday at West Pine and North Spruce streets near Fairview Park. Police said a man suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

An ambulance showed up at the scene, but the victim got his own ride to a hospital.

Police did not release any motive or suspect information.

Officers dragged as suspect flees

A suspected felon in a car dragged two Kansas City police officers a short distance early today.

The officers suffered minor injuries. The incident began about 1:35 a.m. at Meyer Boulevard and Chestnut Avenue when the officers saw a car with license plates registered to a man with felony warrants.

The officers pulled the driver over and he stopped his car, but refused to get out of it. The officers tried to remove him from the car and the driver sped away, dragging the officers a few feet.

Other officers used a tire-flattening device to stop the car and arrest the driver near 59th Street and Swope Parkway.

—Christine Vendel