RILEY COUNTY- The suspect wanted in connection with a shooting death in Manhattan is now in the Riley County Jail.
On Friday afternoon 38-year-old Steven Harris was booked into the Riley County jail, according to the county booking report.
On Thursday night, Law enforcement authorities in Wichita arrested Harris after receiving information that a vehicle matching the description in connection with the crime was at a Motel 6 on E. Kellogg Dr. in Wichita, according to police.
WPD responded to the scene and were able to determine the vehicle was a match. WPD officers then made contact with Harris.
He and 37-year-old Cora Brown, who was also at the Motel 6, were arrested without incident.
Harris was arrested on a Riley County District Court warrant for 1st degree murder and attempted 1stdegree murder. Harris’ bond remains at $2,000,000.00.
Brown-photo Sedgwick County
Police arrested Cora Brown on a Riley County District Court warrant for possession of methamphetamine.
Brown’s bond was set at $20,000.00. She is no longer in custody, according to police
First responders on the scene of Friday’s accident-photo courtesy KWCH
EL DORADO, Kan. (AP) — Authorities in southern Kansas’ Butler County say the body of an 82-year-old man who went missing in the Walnut River has been found.
Sheriff’s officials say Ramon Criss was found dead Saturday morning about a half mile from where the tractor he was riding was overturned on a low-water bridge he had been trying to clear of debris.
The search for Criss had begun about 2 p.m. Friday.
SHERMAN COUNTY- Storms rolled out of eastern Colorado and across Kansas for a second straight night.
Just after 5p.m. CDT, the National Weather Service issued the first Tornado warning of Friday evening.
The storm brought strong winds, hail and flooding rain to some areas of northwest Kansas.
Just after 10:30 p.CDT, the national weather service issued a flash flood warning for Sherman County.
Throughout the early morning hours Saturday, the National Weather Service issued numerous severe thunderstorm watches, warnings and tornado warnings in Trego and Ellis County.
There are no reports of damage from the storm. Four people were injured in an accident blamed on the weather just before 11p.m. Friday in Sherman County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2007 Chevy Cobalt driven by Jesus A. Flores-Villaman, Manhattan, was westbound on Interstate 70 at Goodland.
The Chevy rear-ended a 2017 Ford Expedition driven by Vineeth Vakeel, 27, Overland Park, that was stopped in the driving lane due to the severe weather conditions.
Flores-Villaman and passengers in the Chevy Leticia Flores, 49, Manhattan; Miguel A. Lechuga-Cruses, 48, and Rosa Ochoa-Rodriguez, 48, both of Mexico, were transported to Goodland Regional Medical Center.
Vakeel and five passengers in the Ford were not injured.
Valeo Behavioral Health Care in Topeka is one of three Kansas crisis centers that will be allowed to treat involuntary mental health patients under a new law. MEG WINGERTER / KANSAS NEWS SERVICE
A new law will allow Kansas crisis centers to treat involuntary mental health patients for up to 72 hours, but it isn’t clear if lawmakers will fund it.
Gov. Sam Brownback on Wednesday signed House Bill 2053, which allows crisis centers to treat people deemed a danger to themselves or others because of a mental health or substance use disorder. The bill had passed the House unanimously and passed the Senate 27-12 after some amendments.
Lawmakers didn’t allocate funding for additional crisis center beds before they left for the Memorial Day weekend, although they have yet to finalize a budget.
Kansas currently has three crisis centers — in Kansas City, Wichita and Topeka — which only take patients who agree to treatment.
Bill Persinger, CEO of Valeo Behavioral Health Care in Topeka, said employees there are looking into what changes might be needed to serve involuntary patients.
Valeo has a crisis center for voluntary patients that occasionally houses people waiting for a bed at Osawatomie State Hospital. He estimated the voluntary facility had reduced the number of Shawnee County residents sent to the state hospital by half.
“I think we’re going to have good capacity to provide services on a short-term involuntary basis,” he said.
Persinger said he hopes mental health centers can qualify for grants to prepare for involuntary patients. It could cost Valeo hundreds of thousands of dollars to have a prescriber available at all times, hire security staff, increase its mental health staff and renovate the building to offer more security and privacy, he said.
“It’s not something we can start doing tomorrow,” he said.
Marilyn Cook, CEO of Comcare in Wichita, said many mental health patients could avoid the state hospital or jail if more local treatment options were available, but the state needs to add funding for those programs. She estimated about half of the voluntary patients who use Comcare’s crisis center don’t have insurance.
“We would have to have medical staff there 24 hours, which is an expenditure, and we would have to have some funds for medication for people who are uninsured,” she said. “We have a sustainability problem right now.”
Cook and Persinger said they hope the Legislature will pass a bill that would give some funds from lottery ticket vending machines to crisis centers, but they don’t expect it would generate enough to cover all their costs.
A similar bill considered in 2016 to allow involuntary treatment raised concerns about violating the rights of people with mental illnesses. A committee of mental health advocates, treatment providers, law enforcement officers and others met between the sessions to come up with a compromise to provide treatment while protecting individuals’ rights.
Cook said allowing crisis centers to treat involuntary patients has been shown to reduce hospitalizations in other states. Patients who come to Comcare voluntarily often calm down within a few hours because they are in a quiet environment with staff available to help, she said.
“I know it can work because it works now,” she said.
Meg Wingerter is a reporter for the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of kcur.org, Kansas Public Radio and KMUW covering health, education and politics. You can reach her on Twitter @MegWingerter
JEWELL COUNTY – A Game Warden with Kansas Wildlife and Parks helped rescue a Whitetail doe found in a well pit in Jewell County on Thursday.
After some creative thoughts and good farm help, according to a social media report from KDWP&T Game Wardens, the doe ran off into the timber with only some scrapes.
SALINE COUNTY- Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on felony charges after a brief police pursuit.
Just before 2p.m. Thursday, a Saline County Sheriff’s deputy doing seatbelt enforcement attempted to stop a 1992 Chevy Silverado near intersection of Santa Fe and Republic in Salina, according to Sheriff Roger Soldan.
When the patrol vehicle turned around to make contact with the vehicle, the driver sped away.
The deputy chased the pickup through several residential neighborhoods. The suspect identified as Jeremy Welch, 39, Culver, ditched the vehicle in the middle of the street in the 100 block of East Minneapolis.
Authorities searched the area for about 15 minutes before a Salina Police officer noticed a bookshelf askew on an enclosed back porch. Police found Welch hiding behind the shelf.
He was booked into the Saline County Jail and faces felony obstruction charges as well as multiple traffic violations, according to Soldan.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Prosecutors say a former Valley Center police sergeant has been charged with sexual exploitation of a child, attempted sexual battery, official misconduct and harassment.
Forty-nine-year-old Thomas Delgado made his first court appearance Friday in Sedgwick County District Court on seven counts. The charge related to the sexual exploitation is a felony, and the others are misdemeanors.
His defense attorney did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment.
The Sedgwick County District Attorney’s office said in an email that Delgado is free on a $75,000 bond on condition he not contact witnesses. His preliminary hearing is set for June 7.
Delgado had been a Sedgwick County sheriff’s patrol deputy before he became a Valley Center police sergeant. He resigned after his arrest in December.
SEDGWICK COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for alleged attempted murder.
On Thursday, police arrested 23-year-old Dijon Thomas for the shooting of a teenager playing basketball at a park in the 2600 Block of North Piatt in Wichita, according to Sgt. NIkki Woodrow during Friday’s online media briefing.
The 17-year-old victim arrived at a local hospital on Sunday with a gunshot wound to his leg. Bullets also hit a house and car in near the park.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 71-year-old Kansas man has been sentenced to five years in federal prison and ordered to pay $8.4 million in restitution for tax evasion.
David Pflum, of St. Marys, was sentenced Thursday for tax evasion and obstruction to the Internal Revenue Service.
Prosecutors say Pflum claimed on Internal Revenue Service documents that he had less than $475 in assets and a monthly income of $470.
Pflum, who owned Coil Springs Specialties, actually owned more than $2 million in real estate and made more than $16,000 a month.
Prosecutors say he encouraged people who owed him money to ignore IRS collection efforts.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A lawyer who worked for Secretary of State Kris Kobach will replace his father-in-law in the Kansas House.
Republican leaders from the Derby and Mulvane area on Thursday selected Jesse Burris to replace Pete DeGraaf in the Kansas Legislature. Burris, a lawyer who worked for Kobach until this week, was the only nominee for the 82nd House District seat.
DeGraaf is leaving the Legislature after nine years because of health issues caused by Parkinson’s disease.
Burris, an Air Force veteran, is a staunch conservative, who opposes all tax increases, abortion and same-sex marriage. He says he supports school choice and gun rights.
Burris resigned his job with the secretary of state’s office Wednesday in anticipation of his appointment.
