Crime Scene KC

« April 2006 | Main | June 2006 »

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Police ID man killed in standoff

From Kansas City police:

The man who was killed during the stand-off in the 2900 block of Highland this morning has been identified as Leland J. Graham, black/male, 08/05/1984, of Kansas City.
Man dies during standoff with KC police
Previous post (9 comments)

Posted by Greg Reeves on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 05:39 PM in Deaths - Other | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Why the Paseo bridge was closed Monday

Email inquiry:

any idea on why the Paseo bridge was closed down on Monday afternoon?

Why, yes I do:

"We had a negotiator response to a man threatening to jump off the bridge," KCPD spokesman Capt. Rich Lockhart told me. "It didn't last very long. He changed his mind and we got him back."

Posted by Greg Reeves on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 02:09 PM in Other crimes, Traffic accidents/safety | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Father of 2 dies in police standoff

See ID update

The Kansas City police captain in charge of hostage situations and standoffs used to tell me patience was his best weapon. And he'd tally his success by the number of peaceful resolutions. It didn't work every time:

Man dies during standoff with KC police
A man who exchanged gunfire with police inside a Kansas City home this morning has died, police announced shortly before 10:30 a.m.
They were investigating whether the man was hit during the exchange of gunfire or whether he later killed himself. Police described him as a 21-year-old father of two with a third child on the way.
The incident began about 6:15 a.m. when someone called 911 to report a disturbance involving a man with a gun at a house near 29th Street and Highland Avenue. When officers arrived, all the occupants were outside. One man broke from the group and ran back inside as officers followed.
After the man threatened to kill himself with a knife, the officers called in a police negotiator. At 7:24 a.m., the man fired at police and the officers returned fire. No officers were hit.
After hearing nothing from the man for hours, police found him dead.

Posted by Greg Reeves on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 01:08 PM in Deaths - Other | Permalink | Comments (15) | TrackBack (0)

KC loan officer: Kansas City, bah!

Of the 170+ comments that landed on 1 stabbed in street brawl at The Point, none were as acerbic as two emails I got from David H., a loan officer at a prominent local mortgage firm:

3:41 p.m.:
What do you expect from a place like the point, or any other dump in Missouri, mid-town is a complete disgrace filled with trash, everyday something happens,
These sick fools that are out late at night should just be removed from the list.

3:54 p.m.:
I reply thanking him for his email, with regards, etc.

3:56 p.m.:
No problem, I am dead serious,
KCMO is a freaking wreck.,
All the way from downtown, past bannister mall.

So there, Kansas City. A mortgage loan officer - whose job it is to spread the joy of home ownership in our town - has spoken!

PLEASE NOTE:
Some well-received new rules for commenting.
1. Comments must be signed. Unsigned comments will be deleted.
2. Comments signed as someone other than the writer will be deleted.
3. No profanity or vulgarity, racially or sexually offensive speech.
4. THINK before you comment. Feeling off-topic? Visit the open thread

Posted by Greg Reeves on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 12:34 PM in Other crimes | Permalink | Comments (178) | TrackBack (0)

Dena D. Riley, junkie/gentle dog groomer

A loyal reader of this blog put me in touch with Karen L., who employed accused sado-sex killer Dena D. Riley (right) as a groomer in her Harrisonville dog kennel a couple years ago.
"Dena was really kind and gentle with the dogs," Karen told me. "She was one of the gentlest people around the animals I've ever had out here."
But Dena also had trackmarks and infected sores all over her body and talked openly about her drug use, said Karen, a former psychiatric nurse.
"She steadily talked about the drugs she got the night before, how she used it and how great it was," Karen said. "She'd use anything. I don't think she was a pot-smoker - she was a needle freak. She also liked pain pills."
Dena and a friend, Sheri, were homeless and living in Dena's car when an elderly Odessa vet took pity on them, Karen said.
"When the doctor's daughter told her mother about these girls being homeless and having to wash up in the gas station bathroom, the doctor's wife offered Dena and Sheri a job," Karen said. "They moved into the basement of the doctor's home in Odessa."
Dena Riley worked for only about two months before all the dogs were groomed and the work ran out, Karen said.
On the news about Dena?
"I'm really shocked," Karen said. "I've heard it said by people I've worked with in the past, that drugs can turn you into some kind of an animal. And that's got to be the case for her, because I just can't imagine her taking things that far."

Posted by Greg Reeves on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 12:22 PM in Homicides - Missouri | Permalink | Comments (50) | TrackBack (0)

Feared in danger: Alieghya Clark

From Olathe police, who are asking this be sent out ASAP:

Name: Alieghya R. Clark
Age: 21 DOB: 07/02/1984
Sex: Female
Race: White
Hair: Sandy
Eyes: Blue
Height: 5'00"
Weight: 120 lbs
Olathe PD case # 2006-0009459

Missing From: Her home in Olathe, KS
Missing Since: 05-27-06
Details: Alieghya was last seen by friends on 05-28-06; she has had no contact with her family since
05-27-06. The circumstances indicate that she may be endangered. She currently has curly hair that is just below her ears in length. If you see her please call your local police immediately.

Missing adult female

Posted by Greg Reeves on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 11:25 AM in Missing persons | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

Cool down: 44 laptop fires in 5 years

Under the category public safety:

Forty-four laptop or notebook computers have caught fire in the past five years, the Consumer Product Safety Commission says.

In a report today, CBS News says some of the fires have burned down houses, or worse. And they have a video of an exploding laptop.

From the CPSC:

Hewlett-Packard recalls notebook batteries
HP has received 20 reports of batteries overheating, including two in the United States. One minor burn injury has been reported. Eleven cases of minor property damage were reported, including one in the United States.

Dell recalls notebook batteries
Dell has received three reports of batteries overheating. The incidents involved damage to a tabletop, a desktop, and minor damage to personal effects. No injuries have been reported.

Posted by Greg Reeves on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 08:59 AM in Public safety | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

Dead woman moved from car to car?

Woman's body left in vehicle on Blue Ridge Boulevard
Kansas City police are investigating an incident in which the body of a woman left in a vehicle at about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the 500 block of Blue Ridge Boulevard.
A man reportedly brought the woman to a house in that area earlier in the evening. Police were investigating reports that she was dead when she arrived and was moved from one vehicle to another.
The man left in a blue Ford Ranger pickup truck.

Posted by Greg Reeves on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 08:22 AM in Deaths - Other | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

Lenexa DUI stop: 1.4% arrested

Lenexa checkpoint yields variety of charges
A sobriety checkpoint Friday night at 95th and Monrovia streets in Lenexa netted several arrests for law enforcement agencies.
The Lenexa Police Department, Johnson County Sheriff’s Department and other Johnson County agencies conducted the checkpoint from 10 p.m. Friday to 2 a.m. Saturday. Here’s what they reported:

504 vehicles stopped
25 drivers given field sobriety tests
Seven drivers cited for DUI
Four persons charged with minor in possession
Three persons charged with transporting open containers
Two drug-related charges
16 additional traffic charges

(7 / 504) * 100 = 1.4 percent

Posted by Greg Reeves on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 08:15 AM in Sobriety checkpoints | Permalink | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)

Dutch pedophiles start political party

Dutch pedophiles are launching a political party to eventually legalize sex at any age, sex with animals and child porn - ideas not universally accepted, even in the Netherlands.

From Reuters:
Pedophiles to launch political party
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Dutch pedophiles ...sparking widespread outrage.

Posted by Greg Reeves on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 07:29 AM in Child porn, Other crimes, Sex offenses | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)

Open thread Wednesday: More beer

This is the place to come for discussion of off-topic topics. It's also a good place to suggest story ideas. Here's an item from AP today:

Correction: More Beer story
Eds: Members who used BC-More Beer, sent May 8 under a Chicago dateline, are asked to use the following story.
CHICAGO (AP) — In a May 8 story about beer making a comeback, The Associated Press, relying on data provided by ACNielsen marketing information, erroneously reported a period when beer sales totaled $4.071 billion. The sales occurred over 12 weeks ending April 22, not 12 months.

Not to say it's a slow news day, but by my calculation, that's $560.93 of beer a second:

Posted by Greg Reeves on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 07:00 AM in Meta - Reactions to this blog | Permalink | Comments (115) | TrackBack (0)

Overland Park daily offenses

Daily report from Overland Park police.

2006-05-29: XLS PDF
2006-05-25: XLS PDF
2006-05-24: XLS PDF
2006-05-23: XLS PDF
2006-05-22: XLS PDF
2006-05-21: XLS PDF
2006-05-20: XLS PDF
2006-05-19: XLS PDF
2006-05-18:
2006-05-17:
2006-05-16: XLS PDF
2006-05-15: XLS PDF
2006-05-11: XLS PDF
2006-05-10: XLS PDF
2006-05-09: XLS PDF
2006-05-08: XLS PDF
2006-05-07: XLS PDF
2006-05-06: XLS PDF
2006-05-05: XLS PDF
2006-05-04: XLS PDF
2006-05-03: XLS PDF
2006-05-02: XLS PDF
2006-05-01: XLS PDF

Also see:
www.opkansas.org (current file only)
Interactive map of Overland Park crime data by local programmer Brett Rickman
Crime mapping by Overland Park police
Past Overland Park crime reports in this blog

Posted by Greg Reeves on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 06:59 AM in Crime stats - Overland Park | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Olathe daily offenses

Daily posting by Olathe police.

2006-05-29: XLS PDF
2006-05-25: XLS PDF
2006-05-24: XLS PDF
2006-05-23: XLS PDF
2006-05-22: XLS PDF
2006-05-21: XLS PDF
2006-05-20: XLS PDF
2006-05-19: XLS PDF
2006-05-18:
2006-05-17:
2006-05-16: XLS PDF
2006-05-15: XLS PDF
2006-05-12: XLS PDF
2006-05-10: XLS PDF
2006-05-09: XLS PDF
2006-05-08: XLS PDF
2006-05-07: XLS PDF
2006-05-06: XLS PDF
2006-05-05: XLS PDF
2006-05-04: XLS PDF
2006-05-03: XLS PDF
2006-05-02: XLS PDF
2006-05-01: XLS PDF
2006-04-30: PDF XLS

Also see www.olatheks.org (current file only)

Posted by Greg Reeves on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 06:58 AM in Crime stats - Olathe | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

All The Star's crime stories today

Links to crime-related stories in The Star:

Lenexa checkpoint yields variety of charges
Inside and outside court, anguish follows murder
Justices muzzle public workers
Man pleads guilty to 8 killings
Cruise ship jumper was angry about bar tab
Muhammad convicted of six sniper slayings
Missing boy found ‘alive and well’
Teens, alcoholics account for much of liquor sales
Poll finds schools are more hostile for blacks, Hispanics
Man ruled incompetent for fire trial
Cost of police academy rises again
Area man charged in ‘hit’ plot over deal
Disabling traffic signal leads to charges
METROPOLITAN DIGEST (from Tuesday)
Police destroy DNA samples taken in BTK investigation
Theismann says Ricky Williams is ‘a disgrace to the game’

Posted by Greg Reeves on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 06:47 AM in Links to crime stories | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

5 days of Leawood crime

Leawood has made available a file of police activity in the past five days, updated autormatically every half-hour:

2006-05-26 0829 to 2006-05-31 0635: PDF
2006-05-20 0802 to 2006-05-25 0255: PDF
2006-05-17 1331 to 2006-05-22 1247: PDF
2006-05-11 0936 to 2006-05-16 0845: PDF
2006-05-10 0506 to 2006-05-15 0244: PDF
2006-05-07 1101 to 2006-05-12 0807: PDF
2006-05-06 1738 to 2006-05-11 1628: PDF
2006-05-05 1114 to 2006-05-10 1026: PDF
2006-05-04 0251 to 2006-05-09 1237: PDF
2006-05-03 0824 to 2006-05-08 0128: PDF
2006-04-30 1127 to 2006-05-05 0913. PDF

Available at www.leawood.org: Current file only

Posted by Greg Reeves on Wednesday, May 31, 2006 at 06:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Home pot-grower/seller faces 5-40

From the U.S. attorney's office:

Allen T. Bloodworth, 28, Grandview, pleaded guilty in federal court today to operating a sophisticated hydroponic marijuana growing operation in his basement.
Bloodworth admitted that he was growing 206 marijuana plants in the basement of his residence, which he sold for $550 per ounce. Law enforcement officers discovered the operation during a search of Bloodworth’s residence on May 2, 2005.
Under federal statutes, Bloodworth could be subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison without parole, up to 40 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $2 million.

Posted by Greg Reeves on Tuesday, May 30, 2006 at 04:17 PM in Drug offenses | Permalink | Comments (14) | TrackBack (0)

Truckin'...with 262lbs of pot?

From the U.S. attorney's office in Kansas:

Albert Powell, III., 26, Aurora, Colo., is charged with one count of possession with intent to distribute approximately about 262 pounds of marijuana. The crime is alleged to have occurred May 16, 2006, in Shawnee County, Kan.
Powell’s case was one of two the Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office worked earlier this month, seizing a total of more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana in less than a week. In the other case, Boyd Hatfield and Jack R. Rager, Jr., were arrested May 13. According to the Sheriff’s Office, Hatfield and Rager had 835 pounds of marijuana when they were arrested.
News release (also includes indictments for child porn, cocaine, crack, meth, felon-with-a-gun, etc.)

Posted by Greg Reeves on Tuesday, May 30, 2006 at 01:39 PM in Drug offenses | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

Girl fight: jogger versus dog-walker

From a female reader/jogger whose suggested lead-in is: "Girl fight!! Fed up with invisible retractable leashes? Tired of dodging doggy doo on your favorite trail? No problem. Bad dog owners ARE the problem."

Police say female jogger attacked another woman
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- Police were looking for a female jogger who they say attacked a woman who was walking her dogs during the weekend.
A woman who was walking her dogs was confronted by the jogger Saturday on Pierce Island, police said. She reported she and the jogger had words, then the jogger began to choke her.
A couple who was walking by interrupted the attack, police said.

Thanks to AP for special use of this story

PLEASE NOTE:

Some well-received new rules for commenting.
1. Comments must be signed. Unsigned comments will be deleted.
2. Comments signed as someone other than the writer will be deleted.
3. No profanity or vulgarity, racially or sexually offensive speech.
4. THINK before you comment and please stay on topic.

Thanks,

Posted by Greg Reeves on Tuesday, May 30, 2006 at 11:34 AM in Assaults, Crimes against animals | Permalink | Comments (43) | TrackBack (0)

1 stabbed in street brawl at The Point

Email from a reader upset that TV had this all day yesterday, and not a peep from this blog or The Star. From Kansas City police:

Officers were dispatched at 2:30 a.m. Monday to a tavern disturbance to The Point, 44th and Belleview. Upon arrival a large disturbance was seen taking place across the street from the tavern.
A victim was observed lying on the ground with a large wound to the head. Witnesses stated that the disturbance started inside the bar and moved outside where the victim was struck in the head with a beer bottle.
Two suspects were taken into custody.
The victim was transported to a local hospital in stable condition. At the hospital, medical personnel discovered a knife wound to the victim's right rib-cage area.
Four other persons suffered cuts, lacerations and abrasions.

From the emailer, who said, "I saw the whole thing. It's a shame only two people were arrested. Just a brutal fight, easily the worst I've seen." :

"There were about 30-35 people involved, and was very violent, it ended with Police dispersing the crowd with shotguns, and an ambulance taking at least one victim to the hospital who was in very bad shape. The bouncers were totally overwhelmed and I felt sorry for them b/c they were beat up pretty bad themselves."
"The police account that it happened across the street from the bar is very inaccurate. It ended there, but most of the fight occurred in the patio area right outside the front door of The Point, on their property."

Another disturbance occurred , apparently, at Mac's South Jazz and Blues club, 11816 Blue Ridge Boulevard. KCTV-5 said 10 arrests were made; police told me officers arrived in the aftermath of a dispute between proprietors and customers.

Posted by Greg Reeves on Tuesday, May 30, 2006 at 09:01 AM in Assaults, Other crimes | Permalink | Comments (206) | TrackBack (0)

'Gas rage' all the rage?

Kansas-Missouri makes the list...

Clerks in line of fire when customers rage about gas prices
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tempers are rising along with gas prices. Gas stations across the country report that drivers are taking out their gas rage against big oil by yelling at clerks and cashiers and sometimes driving off without paying.
Employees of Fleming Corp., which operates 14 gas stations in Kansas and Missouri, have heard everything from “just a mumble-grumble kind of thing to a cheap shot or blaming the clerk for world oil prices,” owner Ed Roitz said.
Steve Grosse is trying humor to defuse tempers. At his Shell station in Manhattan Beach, he replaced the price of gas with the words “arm,” “leg” and “first born.”

Posted by Greg Reeves on Tuesday, May 30, 2006 at 08:49 AM in Other crimes | Permalink | Comments (59) | TrackBack (0)

Panel: Prison violence is not OK

I write about crime in this blog. Crime makes people mad, and they often leave angry comments describing what they'd like to do to the bad guy. I think most people are just trying to make a point. In other cases, I'm not so sure.
The people who run prisons consider prison violence a problem, not a natural extension of the criminal justice system:

NEW YORK, May 30 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons will release “Confronting Confinement,” a report on violence and abuse in U.S. jails and prisons, the impact on public safety and public health, and how correctional facilities nationwide can become safer and more effective.
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Corrections and Rehabilitation will receive the Commission's findings and recommendations and hear testimony from five Commissioners at a hearing June 8.
Key findings:

Violence against prisoners and staff is a problem in too many places, and the lack of standardized, reliable data to measure violence is a serious impediment to enhancing safety.
Poor medical and mental health care inside correctional facilities -- the result of inadequate funding -- puts prisoners, staff, and the public health at risk.
Expensive, long-term high-security segregation can actually exacerbate violence in prisons and contribute to recidivism after release.
Line officers, wardens, and system directors frequently lack the resources and support to meet

Funded by the Vera Institute of Justice

Posted by Greg Reeves on Tuesday, May 30, 2006 at 08:35 AM in Prisons administration | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

Survey: Toughen laws on data disposal

The trade group for companies that provide document destruction finds that companies want tougher rules on disposing of old personal data:

PHOENIX, May 30 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The vast majority of business executives say that a one-year old federal law requiring companies to destroy certain documents containing consumer credit information does not go far enough, according to a survey commissioned by the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID).
The first-ever survey on information disposal comes on the one year anniversary of a provision in the federal Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act. The so-called FACTA Final Disposal Rule, which took effect June 1, 2005, requires most businesses to first destroy documents containing consumer credit information before discarding them.
Other key findings:

77% of business executives do not know what their companies do to ensure the destruction of information on obsolete computers.
11% of businesses indefinitely stored retired computers because they aren't aware of proper disposal methods permitted under the law.
63% of businesses that currently shred discarded information do it themselves with the remaining 37% relying on outside security shredding companies.
AP story

Posted by Greg Reeves on Tuesday, May 30, 2006 at 08:18 AM in Other crimes | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Open thread Tuesday

This is the place to come for discussion of off-topic topics. It's also a good place to suggest story ideas - especially today.

PLEASE NOTE:

Thanks,
Greg Reeves

Posted by Greg Reeves on Tuesday, May 30, 2006 at 08:04 AM in Meta - Reactions to this blog | Permalink | Comments (40) | TrackBack (0)

23 DUI arrests in Midtown checkpoint

A Friday night DUI checkpoint by KC police and the Missouri Highway Patrol:

9 p.m. to 4 a.m.
39th Terrace and Southwest Trafficway
Northbound traffic
1,027 vehicles stopped, 23 DUI arrests (8 K.C.P.D, 15 MSHP), 3 marijuana possession charges, 4 city warrants, and 2 felony warrants

(23 / 1,027) * 100 = 2.2 percent. Partial list of past results:

Sobriety_checkpoint_results_39th_and_sou

To-do list:

Find NHTSA or academic, peer-reviewed studies that correlate sobriety checkpoints with alcohol-involved accident rates or other measure(s) of effectiveness.

Posted by Greg Reeves on Tuesday, May 30, 2006 at 07:44 AM in Sobriety checkpoints | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

South KC DUI check this weekend