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Tuesday, May 30, 2006

All The Star's crime stories

Links to crime-related stories in The Star:

Today:
Second body may be linked to couple
Smugglers erase line dividing nations

Monday:
Reasons sought in balcony deaths
‘Back-over’ fatalities are growing
Families seek closure in the deaths of two women

Sunday:
Metropolitan Digest
Couple’s turbulent paths met in infamy
Father throws children, himself from 15th floor
Pursuit of dentist’s divorce continues even after his slaying
Bans on smoking gain momentum
Firings follow silence on abuse
Police chiefs recommend procedures for car chases in St. Louis
Shooting at Noble Park injures five, police say

Saturday:
Police fear circle of victims is wide
Reported ‘gunfire’ sound causes scare at Capitol
Immigration bill accord is seen as tough goal
Man fears he was next victim in plot
High court petition is next
Metropolitan digest
Woman recounts sexual attack
Couple allegedly beat child with a Bible
Lawsuit accuses man of lying about charity
FL deputy's fatal shooting of Florence man brings suit
2 ex-Sprint employees are indicted

Posted by on Tuesday, May 30, 2006 at 07:23 AM in Links to crime stories | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Friday, May 26, 2006

HIV+/HCV+ mental patient missing

Patty_a_baker_missing_and_all_kinds_of_tFrom KC police:
Patty A. Baker, black female, 11/27/1957 escaped from custody while being treated at Truman Medical Center – Lakewood. Ms. Baker is 4-11, 145lbs, brown hair and brown eyes.She is a ward of the Jackson County Public Administrator.
She was last seen at the hospital on 05/24/2006 at about 10:30am. She suffers from delusions and schizophrenia and is also HIV and Hepatitis C positive.
If located she is to be taken to Western Missouri Mental Health Center.
Anyone with information is asked to call the TIPS Hotline at 474-TIPS (8477).

Posted by on Friday, May 26, 2006 at 05:21 PM in Missing persons | | Comments (18) | TrackBack (0)

Searching for Jimmy Hoffa on a horse farm

No crime blog would be complete without at least one story about Jimmy Hoffa:

Hoffa_search

Search for Hoffa's remains continues
MILFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - Down in a hole on a suburban Detroit farm where investigators are searching for Jimmy Hoffa's remains, clues can be subtle and only a trained eye can spot them.
As FBI agents began digging up the ground where a barn had stood, the excavation was halted Thursday when a university professor leading the work noticed a change in the color of the dirt and a piece of what looked like rotted wood, said the man whose company was hired by the FBI to knock down the barn and dig beneath it.

(AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Posted by on Friday, May 26, 2006 at 04:25 PM in Homicides - Other, Missing persons | | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

2 at Sprint indicted in phone fol-de-rol

Exactly how they allegedly pulled this off I can't figure out:

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – Two Sprint employees working secretly for a high tech consulting firm helped it get the upper hand in contract negotiations with the Overland Park-based telecommunications company, a federal indictment filed here today charges.

  • Leslie Genova, 45, Lee’s Summit, Mo. used a phony name during teleconference negotiations.
  • Mary Drew, 43, Cleveland, Mo., refused to speak at all so fellow Sprint employees wouldn't recognize her.
  • News release from the U.S. attorney's office in Kansas.
  • 15-page federal indictment

Posted by on Friday, May 26, 2006 at 04:06 PM in Other crimes | | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

62-year-old sentenced in VA fraud

Usdoj_logo_73The wrong way to seek VA benefits:

21 months for Hutchinson VA fraud
KANSAS CITY, KAN. - Karl E. Valentine, 62, of Hutchinson, KS, has been sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for seeking treatment at the VA Hospital in Wichita under the name and Social Security number of the dead husband of the woman he was living with.

Posted by on Friday, May 26, 2006 at 09:21 AM in Other crimes | | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)

Judge says molester too short for prison

SIDNEY, Neb. (AP) - A judge said a 5-foot-1 man convicted of sexually assaulting a child was too small to survive in prison, and gave him 10 years of probation instead.
"I truly hope that my bet on you being OK out in society is not misplaced," the judge said.
Judge says man too small for prison

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. Feeling off-topic? See today's open thread.

 

Posted by on Friday, May 26, 2006 at 09:04 AM in Courts administration, Sex offenses | | Comments (100) | TrackBack (0)

'Most-wanted' couple surrenders

Davisriley_1Fugitives surrender with 5-year-old
After eight days on the run, an Independence couple sought in the videotaped sex killing of 41-year-old Marsha Spicer surrendered early Thursday evening in Barton County, Mo.
At the time of their arrest, authorities also took custody of a 5-year-old girl kidnapped recently from her home in Pittsburg, Kan.
Richard D. Davis and Dena D. Riley surrendered to sheriff’s deputies in Lamar, Mo., at 5:50 p.m. Lamar is about 120 miles south of Kansas City.
Davis and Riley had been in the Kansas City area within the past two days, after having been spotted in suburban St. Louis and Perryville, Mo., about 100 miles south of St. Louis, several days earlier.
Davis, 41, and Riley, 39, had been missing since May 17, two days after Spicer’s nude and beaten body was found in a shallow grave in Lafayette County, just east of Jackson County.
Authorities have not said that they suspect Davis and Riley in other killings, but an area woman has said she fears that her daughter was a victim of the couple. Sanders would not say if the two were suspected in the deaths of other women. However, he said additional charges were “likely.”
Marsha_spicer_1Police have said that they recovered a videotape that showed the two suspects beating, strangling and sexually assaulting Spicer in Davis’ apartment in the 1100 block of West Truman Road early on Mother’s Day morning.
Also Thursday, a Shawnee woman continued to insist that her daughter, Michelle Ricci, was the person in a photo distributed by Independence police as part of the investigation and that her daughter might have been in contact with Davis.
“I know that’s my daughter, and I haven’t seen her since April 3,” Sherry Ballew said. In the photo, which police released on Sunday, Ricci appears distressed, with blotches on her face and a vein protruding from her forehead.

Above left: Marsha Spicer (KCTV5 photo)

Posted by on Friday, May 26, 2006 at 08:52 AM in Homicides - Missouri | | Comments (47) | TrackBack (0)

Open thread Friday

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

Posted by on Friday, May 26, 2006 at 08:30 AM in Meta - Reactions to this blog | | Comments (137) | TrackBack (0)

Missouri police rated on racial profiling

Missouri AG Jay Nixon has put online a massive report on racial profiling by police agencies in the state. You can look up how your department is doing, because police agencies are required by state law to submit traffic-stop reports by race:

  • Concerns by the citizens of Missouri and the Missouri legislature regarding allegations of racial profiling by law enforcement prompted the passage of state law Section 590.650, RSMo (2000), which was enacted Aug. 28, 2000. Racial profiling has been defined as the inappropriate use of race by law enforcement when making a decision to stop, search or arrest a motorist.

Missouri police prone to pulling over black drivers

JEFFERSON CITY — Black motorists in Missouri continue to be pulled over by police at a higher rate than white and Hispanic drivers, according to a report.
The annual report, an analysis of more than 1.5 million traffic stops, was released Thursday by Attorney General Jay Nixon. It shows black drivers were 46 percent more likely to be stopped than either white or Hispanic drivers in 2005. The disparity has widened since 2004, when blacks were 38 percent more likely than whites to be stopped.

Posted by on Friday, May 26, 2006 at 08:29 AM in One Kansas City?, Police administration, Traffic accidents/safety | | Comments (25) | TrackBack (0)

Alleged illegal alien transporter arrested

Ice_badgeLatest immigration news from Kansas:
A Houston man and 16 suspected illegal aliens were taken into federal custody after a citizen complaint about illegal aliens, federal prosecutors said.
Jaime Hernandez-Rojas, 39, who is a Mexican citizen and lawful permanent resident of the United States, was charged with transporting a group of illegal aliens arrested Wednesday in Haysville.
When deputies approached the van,  passengers fled on foot. Deputies caught 16 passengers and the driver. National origins: Mexico (1), Guatamala (4), El Salvador (11).
News release

Posted by on Friday, May 26, 2006 at 08:19 AM in Immigration and crime | | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

KCK officer hurt in motorcycle crash

Ryan_fincher_kck_pd_2005KCK police officer Ryan Fincher was seriously injured when he became involved in a two-vehicle accident on his way home shortly before 5 p.m. Thursday, police said.
The collision occurred just south of 130th Street and U.S. 24. Fincher, who suffered a compound fracture of the tibia and a concussion, underwent surgery. News release

In March 2003, Fincher was shot four times when he answered a domestic disturbance call. A man wearing two bulletproof vests and armed with a semi-automatic rifle stepped from behind a wall and began shooting. Story

Posted by on Friday, May 26, 2006 at 08:00 AM in Police administration, Traffic accidents/safety | | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)

All The Star's crime stories today

Links to crime-related stories in The Star today:

Fugitives surrender with 5-year-old
GUILTY
Capitol raid creates separation anxiety
Bush immigration bill gets Senate approval
Hoffa hunt leads below barn
Official: VA data routinely left office
Woman attacked in Plaza garage
Three charged in theft of horses from stable
Defendant in abuse case worked in family court
Missouri police prone to pulling over black drivers
Fired policeman sues Edwardsville

Posted by on Friday, May 26, 2006 at 07:45 AM in Links to crime stories | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Missing woman sought in East KC

Missing_woman Police update 10:41 a.m. Friday: Ms. Harrison was found by her family last night (Thursday) at Truman Road and Winner Road sitting at a bus stop. She reported to them that she had been at that location for past three days. She is doing well.

Sheila R. Harrison, 43, a diagnosed schizophrenic and resident at a Jolet Residential Care Facility, 3920 Foreset, has gone missing again, police said. This time she has not been seen since leaving her job at 3 p.m. Thursday at Blue Valley Industries, 1620 Prospect.
In the past she has been located around Wal-Mart, 87th and Hillcrest. If you see her please call 911 or the TIPS Hotline at 816-477-8477.

From the KC police poster:

  • 5’4” TALL, 200 LBS. LAST SEEN WEARING A BLUE DENIM SHIRT BLUE CAPRI JEANS AND HI-TOP TENNIS SHOES. LAST SEEN 5-23-2006 3:00 PM IN THE AREA OF 17TH AND PROSPECT.  SUBJECT IS MENTALLY DISABLED.  IF LOCATED CONTACT MISSING PERSONS AT 816-234-5239.

Posted by on Friday, May 26, 2006 at 07:16 AM in Missing persons | | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

8 days of Kansas City crime

Crime_scene_kc_data_14_1These files are daily compilations, lists of all calls to Kansas City police that resulted in a case report. Files are ordered by street and house number, and cover Sunday, May 14, through Sunday, May 21. Key: CRN is case report number; PONUM is police officer number. REPORTAREA is the police beat. ADDRTYPE is A for address or I for intersection.

  kccrime20060521.xls
kccrime20060520.xls
kccrime20060519.xls
kccrime20060518.xls
kccrime20060517.xls
kccrime20060516.xls
kccrime20060515.xls
kccrime20060514.xls

Posted by on Friday, May 26, 2006 at 07:00 AM in Crime stats - Kansas City | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Olathe daily offenses

Olathe_pd_patch_5Daily posting by Olathe police.

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 on Friday, May 26, 2006 at 06:02 AM in Crime stats - Olathe | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Overland Park daily offenses

Daily report from Overland Park police.

Oppd_patch_24

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 on Friday, May 26, 2006 at 06:01 AM in Crime stats - Overland Park | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Thursday, May 25, 2006

To worried mom: Tiffany's still in jail

Email 11:15 p.m. Wednesday:

  • someone called me that my daughter was in big trouble with personal check in goodland,ks so can u let me know bec i dont have phone with me so u can write me back when u find out go on about my daughter name is tiffany reeder...i need to know how long she stay in jail and when due in court .. pls help me.... i am deaf mother....damn tiffany should not touch people s personal check with carrie at general dollar store ....have nice a day     tina

Goodland City Jail tells me Tiffany's still in custody and will make an initial court appearance sometime in the next 48 hours. They also say they tried to explain this to tina via telephone relay for the deaf earlier yesterday. Good luck, Tina.

Posted by on Thursday, May 25, 2006 at 10:54 AM in Other crimes | | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

KS plate PYI544, where are you?

Someone paid $1.00 to have this stolen truck listed on www.StolenCarReports.com:

  • 1989 Chevrolet 1500 pickup truck, white-and-red, Kansas plate PYI544, cracked windshield, dented front bumper, dented rear bumper, stolen from 86th & Jefferson in South KC. Suspect(s): Lawn-waste haulers. Date: March 18.

The Website says it donates all proceeds to charity.

Posted by on Thursday, May 25, 2006 at 09:18 AM in Burglaries, thefts, embezzlements | | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)

2 hurt in drive-by shooting in KCK

Kckpd_patch_25KCK police are asking for your help in a double shooting at 2:42 a.m. today in the 2700 block of North 21st Street:

  • Two young adults in an SUV were parked in front of a residence just north of 21st and Longwood when an unknown suspect(s) in a white vehicle drove by and fired several rounds striking both victims. The white suspect vehicle continued south on 21st Street while the victims fled inside a house and called police. Both victims are listed in serious condition at a local area hospital.
  • Call the Criminal Investigations Division at 913-573-6020 or the Tips Hotline (816) 474-TIPS.
  • News release

Posted by on Thursday, May 25, 2006 at 09:08 AM in Assaults | | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

Open thread Thursday: Complaints

This is the place to come for discussion of off-topic topics. In fact, it's the only place on this blog for off-topic comments.

Complaints from a couple of readers about the prison dress code thread:

  • You people are pathetic. Please note: You were asked several times to move to the other forum, yet you continued to allow the pointless banter to occur here.
  • I can't believe the disrespect you guys are showing on this thread. Greg has asked more than once to take the off-topic chat to another thread, yet no one has bothered to do so.

And, from a trusted friend, not connected to The Star:

  • You've got people peering into each other's shorts. Which is all well and good but it's nice to not drive away the intelligentsia among your readers, you know?

Worse, I've been thinking about Missy the Misspeller and her high school girlfriends, and the snarky high-school drag-racers who were here a couple months ago. I want both under-18 groups to feel welcome on this blog. And that's not compatible with flirty, sex-oriented chat.

Like this open thread, yesterday's Chat Footsie was an experiment. I'll keep the open thread, but please consider it, like the rest of the blog, strictly G-Rated. That doesn't mean dour, humorless or constricted. It means, pretend your words are appearing on a huge screen in an auditorium of well-bred 14- to 17-year-olds.

To those who've commented in the open threads - I value your comments elsewhere on the blog, and look forward to more on-topic comments by you in other threads. But please limit the social chat to this thread. It's almost impossible to delete a comment in TypePad in real time, but I'll do my best if I have to.

Thanks,

Greg Reeves

Posted by on Thursday, May 25, 2006 at 08:36 AM in Meta - Reactions to this blog | | Comments (103) | TrackBack (0)

Recommended: Whitlock on Cosby

Jason_whitlock_1Just my $0.02, but Star sports columnist Jason Whitlock had an outstanding column this morning on Bill Cosby's Call-Out here Tuesday, which drew about 2,000 persons to Penn Valley Community College:

Cosby gets his points acrossCosby

  • I wasn’t shocked at all by what I heard from Cosby on Wednesday. I’d heard it all before at the Million Man March. Cosby was plainspoken, direct and brutally honest.
  • Cosby stated that too many black people have accepted the labels — “at-risk, disadvantaged and minority” — put on them by the mainstream media.
  • “Harriet Tubman had to put a gun to some (slaves’) heads to get them off the plantation,” Cosby said, referring to the queen of the Underground Railroad. “You know why? Because some of us want to stay at-risk and disadvantaged.”

This blog is about crime, not race, but it's hard to ignore the intersection of the two in this country. Related topics have come up on this blog before and can be found in the One Kansas City? category.

As Jason says, Cosby's line has drawn much fire. Latest attack:

Standing up to Cosby's harsh attacks on poor blacks
Like the start of baseball season and the end of the school year, Bill Cosby's rants against the black poor are becoming a perennial feature of the impending summer. On the most recent stops along his 18-city "Call Out" tour, Mr. Cosby has reignited controversy by publicly attacking young black men.
While I don't question his love for black people, his recent actions have appeared more venomous than valuable, more condescending than caring and more hateful than helpful.
- Marc Lamont Hill, an assistant professor of urban education at Temple University, writing in the Baltimore Sun today.

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,
Greg Reeves

Posted by on Thursday, May 25, 2006 at 08:09 AM in One Kansas City? | | Comments (141) | TrackBack (0)

Amber Alert suspect dead, girl missing

Amber_alert_1My question about Amber Alerts couldn't have come on a worse case. This guy, who lived with the girl's legal guardian, killed himself, authorities said. The girl, Reachelle Smith, known as "Peanut", hasn't been found:

MINOT, N.D. (AP) - Authorities searched a wildlife refuge Wednesday for a missing 3-year-old girl after the body of the man who authorities suspect took her was found following an apparent suicide.
Leigh Cowen, 22, was found Tuesday inside a van on a gravel road at the Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge, authorities said. Cowen appeared to have killed himself by carbon monoxide poisoning.
There was no trace of Reachelle Smith, who was last seen the night of May 16 when she was put to bed in her home.

Suspect in North Dakota girl's abduction dies

Reachelle_smith_search

Searchers look for 3-year-old Reachelle Smith near Minot, N.D. (AP Photo/Will Kincaid)

Posted by on Thursday, May 25, 2006 at 07:12 AM in Amber Alerts | | Comments (46) | TrackBack (0)

5 days of Leawood crime

Leawood_pd_badge_39

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

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 on Thursday, May 25, 2006 at 06:04 AM in Crime stats - Leawood | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

JoCo sheriff daily blotter

Joco_so_new_patch_8Daily posting by the Johnson County sheriff's office.

2006-05-24: XLS PDF
2006-05-23:
2006-05-22: XLS PDF
2006-05-21: XLS PDF
2006-05-20:
2006-05-19:
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
2006-05-04: XLS PDF
2006-05-03: XLS PDF
2006-05-02: XLS PDF
2006-05-01: XLS PDF
2006-04-30: XLS PDF
2006-04-29: XLS PDF
2006-04-27: XLS PDF

Available at www.jocosheriff.org: Current file only

Posted by on Thursday, May 25, 2006 at 06:02 AM in Crime stats - JoCo sheriff | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Olathe daily offenses

Olathe_pd_patch_5Daily posting by Olathe police.

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 on Thursday, May 25, 2006 at 06:01 AM in Crime stats - Olathe | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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