DENVER (AP) — A federal judge has taken the unusual step of asking prosecutors to investigate whether Denver police tried to intimidate a witness in a jail-abuse suit against the city.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office hasn’t said whether it will pursue Judge John Kane’s request.

The latest allegations against the police and sheriff’s departments came as part of a civil rights lawsuit filed in Denver by former inmate Jamal Hunter, who says a sheriff’s deputy not only failed to protect him during a July 2011 beating by fellow inmates but encouraged the attack.

Experts say such inquiries rarely yield criminal charges.

Nancy Leong, an associate professor at the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law, says the cases are a challenge for prosecutors, who have to prove not just that an officer violated someone’s civil rights but that they intended to.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s state climatologist says the tornadoes that roared through the Pilger area appear to be rare in their size and intensity.

State Climatologist Al Dutcher said Tuesday that major storms with more than one tornado are fairly common. But in most cases, one twister grows stronger and larger while the other weakens and shrinks.

Dutcher says the strength of both tornadoes likely increased because they had no nearby storms competing for wind and moisture, and the atmosphere was highly unstable.

National Weather Service meteorologist Scott Bryant in Hastings says the number confirmed so far this year is roughly in line the yearly average of about 54.

Van DeWald of the National Weather Service in Valley says the season started quietly but has picked up with tornadoes in mid-May and June.

PILGER, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have named the 5-year-old girl who was killed in the tornado that destroyed more than half the town of Pilger.

Stanton County Sheriff Mike Unger identified her Tuesday as Calista Dixon.

Officials say the girl died after suffering injuries inside of a mobile home on Main Street in Pilger. Her death was one of two confirmed in the storm.

The other person killed was 74-year-old David A. Herout, of Clarkson. Authorities say Herout died after his vehicle left a county road east of Pilger, and he was ejected.

The National Weather Service says four tornadoes appear to have hit the region on Monday night.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The National Weather Service says the storm that struck northeast Nebraska appears to have produced four tornadoes, one of which ravaged the town of Pilger.

Van DeWald, lead meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Valley, says the first tornado is believed to have touched down in rural Stanton County, southwest of the town of Stanton.

DeWald says the second and third tornadoes landed to the southwest of Pilger and traveled together, about a mile apart. The northern tornado struck Pilger, destroying more than half of the town, and the two twisters then merged.

DeWald says a fourth tornado appears to have developed northeast of Pilger. Two crews from the National Weather Service were out reviewing the area to try to measure each tornado’s strength.