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Archive for the ‘NEBRASKA’ Category
Proposed Fremont Nebraska Law Gives Illegal Alien Invaders The Boot
July 11th, 2008
FREMONT, NEBRASKA - A proposed law aimed at banishing illegal immigrants from Fremont, Neb., would require every renter — whether they were born in the United States or immigrated here — to obtain an occupancy license through the city.
The proposal has sparked an outcry among advocates for Latinos. Nebraska Appleseed attorney Norm Pflanz said he is confident many Fremont citizens will join in opposition once they understand the full impact of the ordinance — on their lives as well as those of immigrants.
Fremont’s is the first city council in the state to propose an ordinance that would ban harboring and renting to illegal immigrants. Lawmakers in other U.S. localities have introduced similar initiatives, often later struck down by the courts, according to national immigration groups.
Bob Warner, the longtime councilman who sponsored Fremont’s proposal, said he did so because residents were “sick and tired” of what he said was the federal government’s lax enforcement of immigration laws.
Read MoreAll Those Hundreds Of Billions Of Dollars Spent On So-Called “Homeland Security” Finally Bear Fruit: Lincoln Nebraska Police Arrest A Man For Running At Night In A Thong
June 19th, 2008
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA - Lincoln police have a message for local joggers with exhibitionist tendencies: The thong is wrong. Police arrested a man on Saturday night for running on a Lincoln bike trail in his thong underwear.
Police say the 26-year-old man was arrested for indecent exposure.
Officers said they found him running around Holmes Lake wearing his socks, shoes and, of course, the thong.
Lincoln County Nebraska Sheriff Jerome Kramer, Sgt. Dan Newton, And Deputy Merit Newman Drank Beer While On Interstate Traveling To Training - Alcohol Charged To County Credit Card In Another Incident - Our Tax Dollars At Work
May 10th, 2008
LINCOLN COUNTY, NEBRASKA - The North Platte Bulletin broke the story Wednesday about Lincoln County Sheriff and two other deputies drinking beer in a car on the way to a training session in Lincoln March 26.
Lincoln County Sheriff Jerome Kramer, Sgt. Dan Newton and Deputy Merit Newman all drank a beer while driving down Interstate-80, Kramer said. Chief Deputy Dean Sparks did not drink, he said he was driving the car.
Members of the Fraternal Order of Police No. 26, the deputy’s union, are upset about the incident and speak out in the Bulletin’s print edition story.
Union members are also upset about $35 worth of alcohol charged on a county credit card when Kramer and Sparks traveled to Lincoln to support the three deputies who were supplying court security for the Alisha Ochoa double murder trial in Lancaster County Court.
Read MoreNorth Platte Nebraska Police Investigate Wedgie: “You might get away with that in Lincoln or Omaha, but we’re not going to allow wedgies In North Platte.”
May 1st, 2008
NORTH PLATTE, NEBRASKA - At 8:16 p.m. on April 22, a North Platte police patrolman was dispatched by the 911 Center to a North Platte home in the 200 block of William Avenue on the complaint of a wedgie.
Seems a neighbor kid gave a youngster a wedgie and the boy’s father called the police.
A wedgie is the condition of having one’s underwear or other garmets “wedged” between the buttocks. This can occur, due to tight garments or physical activity, or performed as a prank by another person by yanking the undergarments upward, thus “giving a wedgie.”
The officer arrived at the residence and talked with all concerned, according to a police spokesman. The father of the boy who received the wedgie thought it was inappropriate.
The officer was able to calm the situation and no one was cited or arrested.
Read MoreDrunk Driving Charges Dropped Against Omaha Nebraska Police Officer Sgt. Harmon Moss After Arrest While Speeding
April 28th, 2008
OMAHA, NEBRASKA - A drunken driving charge against an Omaha police officer has been dismissed following the officer’s completion of a diversion program.
The charge against Sgt. Harmon Moss in Sarpy County Court was dropped on Wednesday.
Moss was arrested in November in Bellevue after he was stopped for speeding while off duty.
He was placed on administrative duty and has been working at a desk since his arrest.
At the time of the arrest, Omaha police said Moss had been hurt earlier in 2007 when a drunk driver rear ended his cruiser.
Appeared Here
Federal Lawsuit Charges Cass County And Nebraska Police With Bogus Murder Charges And 7 Months Of Imprisonment Of Innocent Retarded Man
March 17th, 2008
OMAHA, NEBRASKA — A Nebraska man who spent more than seven months in jail on charges for two murders he did not commit is suing state and Cass County law enforcement in federal court.
Matthew Livers was charged in April 2006 with two counts of first-degree murder in the April 2006 shooting deaths of his uncle and aunt, Wayne and Sharmon Stock. The charges were dropped on Dec. 6 — six months after a Wisconsin pair, Jessica Reid and Gregory Fester, were charged in the murders.
Reid and Fester have since been convicted of the crime and been sentenced to life in prison.
Court records show Livers, who is mildly retarded, was interrogated for 11 hours before he falsely confessed and implicated his cousin, Nicholas Sampson, in the murders.
Livers recanted the next day, and the lawsuit says law enforcement failed to furnish a videotaped copy of the recantation to Livers’ lawyer.
Read MoreFormer Hall County Nebraska Corrections Officer Jason Keller Pleads No Contest In Slap On The Wrist Plea Deal To Sexually Abusing Female Inmate
March 6th, 2008
HALL COUNTY, NEBRASKA - A former Hall County corrections officer was convicted Monday of sexually abusing a female inmate.
Jason Keller, 28, 1033 S. Vine St., pleaded no contest to sexual abuse of an inmate in Hall County District Court as part of a plea agreement.
Deputy Hall County Attorney Gail VerMaas said Keller had sexual contact with an inmate at the Hall County Jail on Nov. 1, 2006, while he was an officer there. But she said Keller did not use force, coercion or threats.
Keller was employed at the jail from February 2005 to December 2006 and was initially charged with sexually assaulting an inmate last March.
He pleaded not guilty to that charge in June and was scheduled to go on trial on Monday.
But the trial was averted through the plea deal, with terms that require prosecutors to ask for probation without jail time at sentencing.
Read MoreFiring Of Nebraska State Police Trooper Robert E. Henderson For Joining Klan-Like Group Upheld, But He Wants Job Back
March 6th, 2008
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA — Nebraska’s public policy against racism should bar reinstating a state trooper who joined a group affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan, a state attorney told the Nebraska Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Private citizens are free to think what they want and free to join racist groups, Assistant Attorney General Thomas Stine told the court. But the state has the right to set terms of employment for state troopers.
“The public policy of the state is, it’s not OK to espouse those racist ideologies and be a member of our State Patrol,” Stine said.
He said the state’s policy against racism allows the court to overturn a binding arbitration ruling in the trooper’s favor and to uphold the firing of Robert E. Henderson.
Henderson’s lawyer challenged that argument.
“We’re talking about free thought, free association and freedom of speech. I know public employees give up some rights, but they don’t give up the right to think,” Vincent Valentino said.
Read MoreFormer Ravenna Nebraska Police Officer Larry Williams Faces Second Trial For Child Molestation
March 2nd, 2008
KEARNEY, NEBRASKA - A second trial for a former Ravenna police officer accused of having sex with a teenage girl has been postponed pending an appeal.
Larry Williams, 50, has filed an appeal with the Nebraska Court of Appeals, saying his rights were violated when the Buffalo County District Court judge who presided over his first trial declared a mistrial. Neither Williams nor his attorney were present at the time.
Williams, who now lives in Holdrege, was on trial for six counts of first-degree sexual assault and one charge of sexual assault of a child.
He’s accused of having a sexual relationship with a girl from 2002 to 2004 starting when the girl was 14.
Williams, a Ravenna police officer at the time of the alleged incidents, has denied any wrongdoing.
His first trial ended in a mistrial in October after a jury could not reach a verdict in seven hours of deliberation.
Read MoreCrawford Nebraska Police Chief Rick Thompson Suspended, Charged After Shooting And Killing A Child
February 26th, 2008
CRAWFORD, NEBRASKA - Attorneys for the police chief of a small northwest Nebraska town say their client was acting in self-defense when he shot and killed a 16-year-old boy.
The police chief and game warden came upon the teen in an abandoned bar. The boy pointed a gun at them and they fired.
Now Chief Richard Thompson, 55, is charged with second-degree assault and could face up to five years in prison if convicted. He would also be fired from his job and would no longer be eligible to be a law enforcement officer in Nebraska.
A grand jury indicted Thompson in November on charges that he acted recklessly in Jesse Britton’s death Oct. 3, 2007.
Attorneys for Thompson are now fighting that decision, saying mistakes were made in the grand jury deliberation process.
Read MoreAppeals Court Upholds Former Omaha Police Officer Scott Antoniak’s Tiny Slap On The Wrist Probation Sentence For On Duty Sexual Assault Of Prostitute
February 20th, 2008
OMAHA, NEBRASKA — The Nebraska Court of Appeals has upheld the District Court’s sentencing of former Omaha police Officer Scott Antoniak on sexual assault charges.
Antoniak, 28, was charged in connection with the rape of a convicted prostitute, prosecutors said, and threatening to take the woman to jail if he didn’t get his way. He was fired from the force last year. He was found guilty in February and sentenced to five years of probation.
Antoniak could have received a sentence of 50 years in prison.
Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine filed the appeal, calling the sentence excessively lenient.
Omaha Nebraska Police Officer Arrested, Suspended, Charged With Beating His Child With A Fan Belt
February 8th, 2008
OMAHA, NEBRASKA - An Omaha police officer is on administrative leave after he allegedly hit his son with a vehicle fan belt.
Police reports show that the 13-year-old son filed a complaint against his father, who is an Omaha police officer. The officer has been charged with four counts of felony child abuse for the January incident.
Former Holt County Nebraska Deputy Sheriff Ivan Young Sentenced To At Least 6 Months In Jail For School Shooting Threats By Phone
January 31st, 2008
HOLT COUNTY, NEBRASKA - it’s at least six months in jail for a former Holt County, Nebraska, deputy sheriff, who’s accused of making a telephone threat of a school shooting.
A judge sentenced Ivan Young to jail time after the 41-year-old pleaded “no contest” to a felony charge of making a terroristic threat.
Authorities say Young called a Bassett, Nebraska, newspaper in October of 2006 threatening a shooting inside an area school.
The threat caused more than two dozen schools to go into lock down.
Temporary Crawford Nebraska Police Chief Hired After Chief Rick Tompson Is Indicted For Shooting And Killing Teen
January 21st, 2008
CRAWFORD, NEBRASKA - The city of Crawford has hired a former Idaho sheriff to temporarily replace its police chief, who has been charged in the shooting death of a 16-year-old.
See also: Crawford Nebraska Police Chief Rick Thompson Indicted For Shooting Teen
Craig Taylor will draw a $36,000-a-year salary when he takes over the police department next week.
Crawford has been without a police chief since November, when Rick Thompson was indicted by a grand jury in the death of Jesse Britton. He was charged with second-degree assault.
Authorities have said Britton was shot by Thompson on October 3rd in a vacant Crawford bar after the teen didn’t obey orders to lower his gun.
Last week, Britton’s mother filed a $1 million claim with the city that said Thompson deprived her son of his rights to due process and fair treatment under the law.
Read More$450,000 Claim Charges Schuyler Nebraska Police Officer Carl Heidemann With Shooting Innocent Beating Victim
January 18th, 2008
OMAHA, NEBRASKA - The city of Schuyler has been served with a claim for $450,000 by an assault victim who was accidentally shot by a police officer last year.
The claim cites negligence on the part of Schuyler police officer Carl Heidemann in the shooting of Dielman Fuentes.
The shooting happened when officers responded to a report of a fight outside a Schuyler home in the early hours of May 21st. Officials say Heidemann was trying to subdue a suspect when his gun discharged, hitting Fuentes. Fuentes, who had been severely beaten, was lying on the ground when he was shot.
He underwent surgery at an Omaha hospital.
The claim says the shooting has left Fuentes disabled and facing hefty medical bills.
Submission of such a claim is required under state law before a lawsuit can be filed. The city has six months to respond.
Read MoreBellevue Nebraska Fat Cop Chris Parent Fired, Loses Appeal
January 16th, 2008
BELLEVUE, NEBRASKA - Action Three News gets the video that was key in the firing of an overweight police officer.
See also: Releated Video Here, DanceRooster’s Unrelated Fat Cop Video Here.
Even after an appeal, the Bellevue Public Service Commission decided Officer Chris Parent should not get his job back.
In some of the clips, Parent is forced to use obstacles to help him up when firing his gun. The video was played during the hearings and is why investigators worried about Parent’s ability to be a patrol officer. “My biggest fear is that it appears that he could not help either himself, members of the public, or other officers, under a stressful situation,” says Attorney Michael Polk.
Meanwhile, Parent’s attorney argues he received a passing grade during the same exercise two days earlier. His lawyer also claims they never asked Parent to lose weight.
Read MoreSheriff Tim Hanson Brags About His Department Stealing Cash After Kimball County Nebraska Deputy Sheriff Chris Engel Seizes Motorist’s Money With No Evidence Of Wrongdoing
January 14th, 2008
KIMBALL COUNTY, NEBRASKA - Christmas came early last year for a new Kimball County Sheriff’s deputy.
Deputy Chris Engel, 25, had been on the job just two weeks when a routine traffic stop Dec. 20 turned into the biggest cash seizure the Nebraska county has ever seen.
Engel pulled over a Salt Lake City, Utah, resident whom he suspected of speeding on Interstate 80 near the town of Kimball.
The driver’s story didn’t add up, Engel said, so he did a little more investigating. In the end, $69,040 in cash was taken from the car. Officials suspect the money is connected to a drug-trafficking operation, he said.
The driver was not arrested — or even ticketed for going 10 mph over the 75 mph speed limit. (He was warned.) But the investigation is ongoing, Engel said. The Nebraska State Patrol and the Drug Enforcement Agency are assisting in the investigation.
Read MoreTrial Examines Omaha Police Officer Brian McKenzie’s Use Of Cellphone While Running Down And Killing Pedestrian With Patrol Car - Officer’s Testimony Includes Lots Of “I Don’t Know” And “I Don’t Recall”
January 10th, 2008
OMAHA, NEBRASKA - The contrast was notable.
On a call with 911 dispatchers, Omaha Police Officer Brian McKenzie was frantic after his cruiser struck and hit 22-year-old Justin Nealon.
“Oh my God!” he screamed.
On the stand in court this week, McKenzie was stoic and measured, often replying, “I don’t know” or “I don’t recall,” to questions posed by an attorney representing Nealon’s family in a lawsuit against the city.
In the end, a judge must decide: Did McKenzie — and the City of Omaha — bear the blame for Nealon’s 2004 death?
Nealon’s family has sued the officer and the city, alleging that McKenzie was driving while distracted when he hit Nealon.
The lawsuit also contends that the city’s failure to “design and maintain a pedestrian crosswalk at West Center Road and Industrial Road . . . did not allow Nealon to safely cross the intersection.”
Read MoreCrazed Lincoln Nebraska Police Charge Woman With Being Naked In Private Bar After Photos Appear On Internet - Our Tax Dollars At Work
January 7th, 2008
Lincoln Nebraska Police Officer Poses With Baton/Dildo
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA — It wasn’t the fact that Melissa J. Harrington appeared naked on the Internet that got her in trouble with police. It was where she got naked.
Her website HERE, where it sounds like Lincoln Nebraska police spend a lot of time ‘investigating’.
The 21-year-old Web designer was busted for violating Lincoln’s public nudity ordinance by posting pictures on her Web site that apparently showed her naked in a downtown bar.
“It’s unlawful to be naked in public in Lincoln,” said Police Chief Tom Casady.
Casady said it was obvious to him that the photos were taken inside the Marz Intergalactic Shrimp and Martini Bar.
The owner of the bar, Jerry Luth, told Omaha television station KETV he is extremely upset by the pictures and did not give Harrington permission to shoot the pictures at the bar.
Read MoreLawsuit Charges Chadron Nebraska Police Officer Bryan Linegar With Teen’s Beating
December 12th, 2007
CHADRON, NEBRASKA - A teenager facing a burglary charge has sued the city of Chadron and a police officer, claiming the officer used excessive force during his arrest in July.
Jeremy Anderson says Officer Bryan Linegar injured the teen’s ribs and left knee, elbow and ear while arresting him.
Anderson is now 18, but was 17 at the time of his arrest. He is seeking an unspecified amount in damages, including those for medical and legal expenses and his pain and suffering.
Anderson faces trial on a burglary charge. Earlier this year, he was convicted of third-degree assault and pleaded guilty to possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.
2007 Noose Tour: Bellevue Nebraska Police Det. Harold Hessig Accused Of Hanging Noose In Black Army Officer’s Office
December 4th, 2007
BELLEVUE, NEBRASKA - The U.S. Army Reserve is investigating allegations that an officer hung a noose in the Council Bluffs office of an African-American sergeant and Iraq war veteran, Army officials said Friday.
Sgt. Tiffany Robinson filed a complaint alleging that her commander, 1st Lt. Harold Hessig, a part-time reservist who also works as a Bellevue police detective, left a rope tied in a noose hanging from a pipe in their office in October.
Robinson, who served in Iraq with the Reserve’s 784th Transportation Company, requested transfer to a new assignment, saying she felt that her civil rights had been violated.
“I felt it very offensive and psychologically damaging. I don’t feel safe,” she wrote in the complaint sent to Army Reserve officials.
Except to confirm that an investigation is in progress, Reserve officials declined to comment Friday.
Read MoreOmaha Nebraska Mayor’s Office Hears From Residents About Police Brutality
December 2nd, 2007
OMAHA, NEBRASKA — The mayor’s staff heard details of alleged police brutality during a meeting with residents on Wednesday morning.
Mayor Mike Fahey was unable to attend, but representatives from his office were there along with Police Chief Thomas Warren and representatives of the Indian community and the Pekas family.
The Pekas family scheduled the meeting to discuss an incident in October where they allege that police used excessive force on a family member.
The mayor’s office media coordinator Joe Gudenrath said people should file complaints if they feel they were treated unfairly.
“The actions of officers can be reviewed through an investigation, and to initiate that investigation, a complaint must be filed with the police department. We encourage anybody that feels an officer has acted inappropriately that they file a police complaint,” Gudenrath said.
Both sides said afterward that the meeting was a good first step towards addressing the issue of police brutality.
Read MoreFormer Lincoln Nebraska Corrections Officer Craig Beckman Arrested, Charged With Child Molestation - 12 Year Old Girl Victim
December 1st, 2007
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA - A former guard sergeant at the state prison in Lincoln has been accused of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl.
Court documents said Craig Beckman, 43, was charged with sexual assault of a child and felony child abuse. Penalties range up to 50 years in prison.
Beckman surrendered to Lincoln police but has already been released on bond. A state spokesman said Thursday that Beckman has resigned his position.
Beckman’s next court hearing was scheduled for Dec. 11.
In an arrest warrant affidavit, police said Beckman assaulted the girl several times over the past year.
Rules Changes May Make It Easier To Decertify Bad Nebraska Police Officers
November 27th, 2007
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA - Jim Winn learned pretty quick while sheriff of Garden County that when it came to hiring new deputies, resumes often didn’t tell the whole story.
“You’d get guys who’d been in 10 different places 10 different years, and it’d take a while to figure out they’d been pressured to leave,” said Winn, recently retired. “A lot of times, you’d get somebody else’s reject.”
More bad officers could be taken off the streets under a rule change, sought by law enforcement officials, that would give them more leeway to yank the certifications officers must have to work in Nebraska.
Under the proposed change, the state Crime Commission could decertify officers for acts that “diminish … public trust in the law enforcement profession.” That expands the current criteria, which require a finding of incompetence, neglect of duty or that an officer is unfit mentally or physically to be an officer.
Read MoreUpdate: Crawford Nebraska Police Chief Rick Thompson Arrested, Ordered To Say Out Of City Limits, Charged For His Role In Teen’s Death
November 26th, 2007
CHADRON, NEBRASKA — Crawford Police Chief Rick Thompson has been arrested and charged with second-degree assault for his role in the death of 16-year-old Jesse Britton, who was shot and killed early in October in a vacant Main Street building in Crawford.
At an initial appearance Tuesday morning in Dawes County Court, Judge
Brian Silverman set a $50,000 cash bond for Thompson, ordered him not to enter the city limits of Crawford without court permission and prohibited him from having any guns in his house.
Thompson bonded out on Tuesday, putting up 10 percent of the $50,000.
Britton died about 10:30 a.m. Oct. 3, when Thompson, two other Crawford Police officers and a Game and Parks law enforcement agent were responding to a report of a break-in at the former Frontier Bar, which had been closed for more than a year. Thompson and Game and Parks Officer Dan Kling entered the building while the other two officers remained outside. Shots were fired, and Britton was killed. Authorities said a handgun was recovered from the scene.
Read MoreUpdate: Crawford Nebraska Police Chief Rick Thompson Charged After Shooting And Killing Teen
November 24th, 2007
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA — Residents of Crawford, Neb., reacted with a combination of surprise and relief Tuesday to the criminal indictment of the town’s police chief in the shooting death of a 16-year-old burglary suspect.
A grand jury’s indictment alleging that Police Chief Rick Thompson had “recklessly” shot the teen also adds steam to the prospect of filing a wrongful death lawsuit, said an attorney for the family of the slain teen, Jesse Britton.
“I think I can say we will be filing a civil action in this case,” said Bob Chaloupka, a veteran trial attorney from Scottsbluff. “That’s probably the only way we’ll get to all the facts.”
The 16-member grand jury met in Chadron for seven days before indicting Thompson, 55, on Monday evening on a charge of second-degree assault, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. A vote of 12 of 16 jurors is required for an indictment.
Read MoreCrawford Nebraska Police Chief Rick Thompson Indicted For Shooting Teen
November 21st, 2007
CRAWFORD, NEBRASKA — Residents of Crawford, Neb., reacted with a combination of surprise and relief Tuesday to the criminal indictment of the town’s police chief in the shooting death of a 16-year-old burglary suspect.
A grand jury’s indictment alleging that Police Chief Rick Thompson had “recklessly” shot the teen also adds steam to the prospect of filing a wrongful death lawsuit, said an attorney for the family of the slain teen, Jesse Britton.
“I think I can say we will be filing a civil action in this case,” said Bob Chaloupka, a veteran trial attorney from Scottsbluff. “That’s probably the only way we’ll get to all the facts.”
The 16-member grand jury met in Chadron for seven days before indicting Thompson, 55, on Monday evening on a charge of second-degree assault, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. A vote of 12 of 16 jurors is required for an indictment.
Read MoreDakota County Nebraska Jail Administrator Chief Deputy Rod Herron Quits
November 19th, 2007
DAKOTA CITY, NEBRASKA — Chief Sheriff’s Deputy Rod Herron has resigned as Dakota County jail administrator, citing an inability to get along with some Dakota County commissioners and hinting that he might sue for slander.
Some board members “are saying some very slanderous things,” Herron said.
He praised three of the five commissioners — Bill McLarty, Bill Rohde and Jackie Hartnett. But Herron said he “could foresee some civil action being taken.” He did not say anything about Commission Chairman Bill Engel or Commissioner Betty O’Neill.
“I didn’t say I was going to sue, but the potential is there,” he said. “I would suggest they ask the person to resign. They’re not doing this county any good. They’re costing it money.”
Engel could not immediately be reached Thursday for comment. O’Neill declined to comment on the matter, saying only: “I don’t want to overstep my bounds. Bill McLarty is the chairman.”
Read MoreOmaha Nebraska Police Officer Sgt. Harmon Moss Arrested, Suspended, Charged With Drunk Driving
November 18th, 2007
OMAHA, NEBRASKA - An off-duty Omaha police officer has been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving.
Sgt. Harmon Moss was arrested Thursday in Bellevue and has been placed on administrative duty pending the outcome of an internal investigation, said Officer Bill Dropinski, an Omaha Police Department spokesman.
Moss was driving 20 mph in a 45 mph zone on Cornhusker Road about 2:15 a.m. He swerved in and out of the westbound lane and bumped a right-side curb, said Bellevue Police Capt. Herb Evers. An officer pulled Moss over.
In a field Breathalyzer test, Moss registered a .156 blood-alcohol content, Evers said. He later registered .128 in a breath test at the jail, he said. The legal limit is .08.
Moss suffered injuries while on duty in March, when his cruiser was struck from behind by a drunken driver near 94th and F Streets.
Franklin Nebraska Police Officer Matthew Bower Sentenced To Jail For Sex With Female Franklin County Jail Inmate
November 17th, 2007
FRANKLIN COUNTY, NEBRASKA - A Franklin, Neb., police officer was sentenced to a year in jail Thursday for having sex with a female inmate from the Franklin County Jail.
A Nebraska State Patrol investigation found that Matthew Bower, 25, removed the woman from custody on about 17 occasions between March 31, 2006, and July 3, 2006. Sexual contact between the two occurred at least one time while she was in his custody, according to the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office.
Bower, who pleaded no contest during a September court appearance, was sentenced to one year in the Franklin County Jail for second-degree sexual abuse of an inmate and six months for official misconduct. The sentences are to be served at the same time.
With credit for good time, Bower could be out in a little more than eight months.
Read MoreUniversity Of Nebraska Group Supervises Omaha Police Brutality Protest
November 17th, 2007
OMAHA, NEBRASKA - Protestors crowded the corner of 72nd and Dodge streets during rush hour traffic Friday, Nov. 9. Holding sign accusing the Omaha Police Department of brutality, the protesters were joined by UNO’s recently created American Civil Liberties Union chapter as legal observers.
Travis McAurther, a member of UNO’s student ACLU chapter, said, “Our goal here is to show presence at protests where our presence is requested. We are neutral observers. We make sure everyone is safe and everyone is okay.”
The protest was in response to several recent allegations of police brutality in Omaha, especially in minority populations.
Present among the crowd of about 50 people, Cal Pekas Jr. said police arrested and beat members of his family.
“Twenty cruisers and a helicopter showed up to my house, handcuffed, pepper sprayed and beat two women and four children,” Pekas said.
Read MoreDead Douglas County Deputy Sheriff Shad Nicks Family Whines About Motorist’s Plea Bargin After Nebraska State Patrol Botches Evidence In Case
November 12th, 2007
DOUGLAS COUNTY, NEBRASKA - The Nebraska State Patrol apologized Monday for a mistake that led to the plea bargain in a drunken driving case that has a family outraged.
The family of Shad Nicks‘ is angry with prosecutors for not trying to find another way to convict a Papillion woman of drunken driving.
Twenty-seven-year-old Heather Henning agreed to plead guilty to felony motor vehicle homicide and reckless driving. She was behind the wheel of a car that struck and killed the 36-year-old Nicks, a Douglas County sheriff’s deputy.
Nicks was off-duty when he took his motorcycle out for a ride last May. Henning crossed the yellow line and hit him on Highway 6 near Giles Road.
He left behind a wife and three children.
Investigators say Henning’s blood-alcohol level was twice the legal limit.
Read MoreRe-Entry Visa Program Amounts To Amnesty For Wetbacks And Their Family Members In Exchange For Testifying Against American Citizens
November 12th, 2007
OMAHA, NEBRASKA — A 13-year-old illegal immigrant who fled to his native Mexico amid a sex scandal with his schoolteacher could be eligible to return to the United States under a new visa the government started granting the week before he disappeared.
Teacher Kelsey Peterson, shown in 2006, is charged with kidnapping and child abuse.
The visa helps illegal immigrants who are victims of sex crimes. If the boy, who spent most of his life in Lexington, Nebraska, qualifies, he could stay legally in the United States for four years and eventually apply for permanent residency.
It also would extend temporary residency to his parents and his unmarried siblings under 18, if they applied for it.
“It’s a win-win,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services spokeswoman Marilu Cabrera said of the “U” visa. “It helps us and law enforcement be able to solve a crime, and it certainly helps the individual who is a victim of a crime.”
Read MoreMontgomery County Nebraska Sheriff Tony Updegrove Pleads Not Guilty To Hitting His Wife In Domestic Violence Incident
November 10th, 2007
OMAHA, NEBRASKA — Red Oak police told KETV NewsWatch 7 on Friday that Montgomery County Sheriff Tony Updegrove, 45, was arrested Friday morning and charged with misdemeanor domestic violence. He entered a not guilty plea.
The Iowa Attorney General’s office will handle the case.
Updegrove allegedly hit his wife during an incident that happened early Friday morning. He was booked, charged and released.
He has place himself on administrative leave until all court proceeding are over
Omaha Nebraska Police Officers Brutally Beat Teen Motorist
November 9th, 2007
OMAHA, NEBRASKA - Jerome Clark Sr. asked a mayoral aide Thursday to look at his son’s raw, battered face.
Alejo Clark with his father, Jerome Clark, at the mayor’s office on Thursday. The 19-year-old said officers beat him Tuesday. Chief Thomas Warren said he tried to evade arrest and was restrained.
“He was arrested Tuesday night,” Clark said of his son, 19-year-old Alejo Clark. “He was arrested and beat up.”
Police Chief Thomas Warren said the injuries to Alejo Clark, who was arrested on suspicion of being a minor in possession of alcohol, occurred when Clark tried to run away. The arresting officers followed proper procedures, Warren said.
Clark said he did nothing to provoke the officers.
Clark was accompanied by his parents, Jerome and Marie Clark, to Police Headquarters on Thursday to file a formal complaint. They then went to the Mayor’s Office, where Chief of Staff Paul Landow assured the south Omaha family that the complaint would be investigated.
Read MoreWitness Threatened While Watching Omaha Nebraska Police Officers Beating 12 Year Old Boy
November 8th, 2007
OMAHA, NEBRASKA - A woman said today that she saw Omaha police officers hitting and kicking a 12-year-old boy as they held him on the ground.
Police, however, continue to say they have no evidence that officers did anything other than sweep Reinaldo Rodriguez’s legs from under him when he refused to stop for police and show his hands.
Janice Hazard spoke at a press conference today called by Ben Salazar, the publisher of Nuestro Mundo, a Spanish/English newspaper in Omaha. State Sen. Ernie Chambers also attended to demand that appropriate disciplinary action be taken against the officers involved.
Salazar provided photos of the boy, Reinaldo Rodriguez, that were taken at Children’s Hospital several hours after police confronted him. The photos show scrapes on Reinaldo’s face near one eye, on one cheek and on his forehead.
Read MoreChild Which Nebraska Teacher “Kidnapped” And Took To Mexico Was A Wetback And Can’t Return To U.S. - So She Actually Preformed A Service That U.S. Government Can’t Seem To Manage
November 4th, 2007
LEXINGTON, NEBRASKA — A 13-year-old student with whom a middle school teacher is accused of fleeing to create a romantic life in the boy’s native Mexico may be required to stay there.
[ So this case will fall apart. Give her a medal for taking out the garbage. ]
Teacher Kelsey Peterson, shown in 2006, is charged with kidnapping and child abuse.
An illegal immigrant while residing in the United States, 13-year-old Fernando Rodriguez may not be able to return to the rural Nebraska town where he was an eighth-grader.
Kelsey Peterson, 25, and Rodriguez were taken into custody without incident after the boy’s relatives told police he had called home asking for money, leading investigators to a shopping mall in the border city of Mexicali on Friday.
Read MoreMother Of Teen Girl In A Coma For A Year After Being Run Down By Former Lincoln Nebraska Police Officer Amanda May’s Patrol Car Files $10 Million Lawsuit
November 3rd, 2007
LINCOLN, NEBRASKA. — The mother of a young woman struck by a Lincoln police cruiser has sued the city and the now-former officer who was driving the cruiser.
Deborah Chinnow, of Adams, seeks more than $10 million in damages from Lincoln and Amanda May, who has left the police force.
The lawsuit says that a little after midnight on Nov. 5, 2006, May was called to back up another officer. The lawsuit says she was driving without lights or siren, and a police report at the time says her speed was 40 to 45 mph.
The cruiser hit Jana Van Groningen, then 18 years old, who was crossing the street with some friends. The lawsuit says the cruiser knocked her about 35 feet, inflicting severe and permanent injury.
Van Groningen remains in a coma.
Former Ravenna Nebraska Police Officer Larry Williams To Be Re-Tried For Child Molestation
October 31st, 2007
RAVENNA, NEBRASKA - A former Ravenna Police officer will be re–tried on child sex assault charges. Earlier this month a Buffalo County Jury could not reach a verdict in the trial of 51 year old Larry Williams.
He is accused of having a sexual relationship with a then 15 year old girl.
Now, Attorney General John Bruning says his office will retry the case.
Williams denies the charges which include 5 felony counts of 1st degree sex assault and one felony count of sexual assault of a child.
The accuser is now 20 years old.
She says she and Williams had sex in 2002 and 2003 in Ravenna’s police station, city council chambers, a city pool and a police car.
New Allegations Of Omaha Nebraska Police Abuse Renew Call For Auditor - Family Calls 911 And Are Brutalized By Police
October 25th, 2007
OMAHA, NEBRASKA - Can the police police themselves?
Some community leaders complain they can’t…they say a case of alleged police brutality last weekend proves it.
A south Omaha family says they called 9-1-1 for help last weekend, but police roughed them up instead.
Meanwhile, police say they didn’t do anything wrong…that family members attacked them.
Today a group of Latino, Native American, and African American leaders said the way the city handled this case shows there’s a big problem here between minorities and cops.
Former police auditor Tristan Bonn said the police chief and the mayor’s chief of staff shouldn’t have announced that officers acted appropriately last weekend.
She says they should have waited for an investigation: “In Police Management 101 you would learn those are not the types of statements you make at the close of a critical incident, prior to a complete investigation.”
Read MoreBellevue Nebraska Police Charge Victim Of High School Prank After He Changes His Story About Being Taped To Pole - Our Tax Dollars At Work
October 23rd, 2007
BELLEVUE, NEBRASKA - Police tell Channel 6 News that the Bellevue East student who was taped to a pole last week has changed his story. He now says he agreed to go along with the prank. As a result he has been cited for obstruction of justice and disturbing the peace.
Police initially rounded up six suspects for allegedly using packaging tape to stick the student to a pole inside Bellevue East High School on Thursday. School resource officers called it a bullying incident.
Police say the alleged victim in the case came forward Monday with a different version of events.
The six other boys involved were initially cited for disturbing the peace and disorderly conduct and released to their parents. It was not immediately clear how the new information will affect those citations.
Fired Merrick County Nebraska Deputy Sheriff Paul D. Osterhoudt Pleads Guilty To Drunk Driving
October 23rd, 2007
MERRICK COUNTY, NEBRASKA - A former Merrick County sheriff’s deputy pleaded guilty on Monday in Hall County Court to driving under the influence and was sentenced to one year of probation.
Paul D. Osterhoudt, 29, of Central City was also fined $400 for the misdemeanor.
The charge stems from a May 3 stop by a Nebraska State Patrol sergeant in Grand Island. The sergeant smelled alcohol coming from inside the vehicle and put Osterhoudt through a series of field sobriety tests, State Patrol Capt. Chris Kolb said previously.
Osterhoudt, who was off duty and driving a privately owned vehicle, failed the tests and was taken to St. Francis Medical Center for a blood alcohol content test, Kolb said.
According to court documents, Osterhoudt had a blood alcohol content of more than 0.15. The legal limit for driving in Nebraska is 0.08.
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