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US Marshal shoots suspect while serving warrant in Lincoln

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 25-year-old Gage County man was shot and injured by a U.S. Marshal while being served with a federal arrest warrant in Lincoln.

Lincoln police say two of its officers and the federal marshal tried to serve Thomas Sailors with the warrant Friday night while Sailors was in a sport utility vehicle in an apartment building parking lot. The warrant charges Sailors with possession and attempted distribution of narcotics in Gage County.

Police say Sailors sought to flee and hit at least four cars, including the one driven by the marshal. The marshal then fired shots into the SUV, wounding Sailors. Police say his injuries are not life-threatening.

No one else was injured.

19-year-old airman, Papillion man killed in 3-vehicle crash

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — Police in eastern Nebraska have identified two people killed in a three-vehicle crash along the Kennedy Freeway in the Omaha suburb of Bellevue.

19-year-old Khalil Jones, of Daytona Beach, Florida, and 47-year-old Shamus Dean, of Papillion, were killed. Two others were critically injured in crash early Friday.

Officials say Jones was an airman stationed at Offutt Air Force Base south of Omaha.

Investigators say Jones’ car had stalled along the freeway, and Dean had pulled over to help. Police say a towing truck being driven erratically by a 57-year-old Bellevue man crashed into the parked vehicles. Jones and Dean were pronounced dead at the scene, and two teens in Jones’ car were injured.

The tow-truck driver was not injured.

New trial date set for man accused of killing neighbor

MADISON, Neb. (AP) — A new trial date has been set for a man accused of stabbing to death a neighbor at a northeast Nebraska apartment complex.

Court records say the attorney for 49-year-old Rodolfo Castaneda-Morejon had requested a delay. The trial had been set to begin Feb. 12. The new date: June 12.

Castaneda-Morejon has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and use of a weapon.

Prosecutors say he killed 39-year-old Yosvanis Velazquez Gomez on Aug. 25. The court records say Castaneda-Morejon told investigators he confronted Gomez about an inappropriate text message sent to Castaneda-Morejon’s girlfriend, suspecting the two were having a secret relationship. The records also say Castaneda-Morejon acknowledged stabbing Velazquez Gomez several times.

Nebraska Supreme Court rejects appeal in 1998 killing case

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 43-year-old Omaha man sentenced to 50-to-80 years for the 1998 shooting death of his former boss will remain behind bars after the Nebraska Supreme Court rejected his appeal.

Greg Glass was convicted of second-degree murder and a weapons count for the death of Adolph Fentress, who was co-owner of Downtown Auto Sales in Omaha.

Police say Glass shot Fentress during an argument at the used-car dealership, where Glass had worked for a time. Glass testified that he confronted Fentress at the dealership because he believed Fentress owed him money.

Glass argued that he fired the weapon in self-defense after Fentress grabbed a tire iron.

On Friday, the Nebraska Supreme Court rejected Glass’ claim that his trial lawyer was so ineffective that it violated his right to a fair trial.

Omaha man sentenced for crash that killed street worker

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha man who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for hitting and killing an Omaha street crew worker nearly a year ago has been sentenced to 14 days in jail and two years’ probation.

Alan Solarana was sentenced Thursday in Douglas County Court after pleading guilty in September to misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide in the Jan. 23 accident that killed 48-year-old Salvatore Fidone III, of Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Police have said Fidone was standing on the driver’s side of a city truck as he and others prepared to fill potholes when a car driven by Solarana drifted from a northbound lane and hit him.

Investigators said Solarana was not speeding on under the influence at the time of the crash.

Nebraska city sues to get settlement back from couple

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s capital city is suing for the return of settlement money paid to a couple who said police wrongly seized $224,000 in cash, coins and from their home, saying that one of the pair violated a nondisclosure agreement when he discussed the case while at a convenience store.

David Tarrence and Tamara Geis received more than $50,000 from the city of Lincoln in November stemming from a lawsuit in which they said police had entered their home in 2014 without a warrant, restrained Tarrence, then forced the couple to leave while officers waited to obtain a search warrant. The lawsuit alleged that a police investigator who then went back into the home for an extended period drafted an affidavit for the warrant seeking things he had “already found … apparently, because he had actually searched the home without first obtaining a warrant.”

In the new lawsuit, city officials say Tarrence was recorded on video on Dec. 8 telling U-Stop store clerks that he “won” his lawsuit and that police had “broke” his and Geis’ civil rights. He also called Lincoln police “constant liars,” the suit says. It wasn’t clear how the city got a copy of the video or learned of its existence.

“From our standpoint, this is a contract action,” City Attorney Jeff Kirkpatrick told the Journal Star on Wednesday.

Bob Creager, an attorney who represents Tarrence and Geis, said his clients are abiding by the confidentiality agreement. Creager declined to comment on the city’s lawsuit.

The couple’s civil rights lawsuit, filed in 2016, said police cut into and destroyed a safe, damaging some firearms and coins in it, and that police smashed carbon monoxide detectors set off by the saw used to cut into the safe. Tarrence and Geis weren’t charged with a crime.

The $53,750 settlement was reached after a federal judge in August said the lawsuit could move forward.

NSP disposes of live grenade in Dodge County

NSP Photo

Hazardous Device Technicians with the Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) Bomb Squad have disposed of a live grenade in Snyder, Nebraska.

The grenade was found Wednesday, January 3, in a truck which had recently been purchased from the family of a deceased individual. While the new owner was cleaning out the truck, he discovered the grenade in the back seat and alerted authorities with the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office.

After securing the scene, the Sheriff’s Office called-in the NSP Bomb Squad to dispose of the device. NSP Hazardous Device Technicians determined that grenade was live. They safely removed it from the vehicle and used counter charges to destroy it in an empty field.

“This is a great reminder for anyone who comes across anything resembling a grenade or an explosive device to call 911,” said Lt. Jim DeFreece, NSP Hazardous Device Coordinator. “We’ve had people find them when cleaning out storage areas, garages, or in this case a vehicle. The safest thing to do is to avoid touching the device and call the authorities.”

NSP would like to thank the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office for their assistance in this operation.

Bill would allow tuition waiver for Nebraska firefighters

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska firefighters and emergency medical technicians could get could get a partial college tuition waiver under a bill pending in the state Legislature.

Sen. Brett Lindstrom of Omaha introduced a bill this week that would waive 30 percent of a first responder’s in-state tuition at the University of Nebraska, a Nebraska state college or community college.

First responders could receive the waiver for up to five years, as long they remain eligible for the benefit.

Lindstrom says the bill could help fire departments recruit more staff and compete with departments in other states. Lindstrom introduced a similar measure for police officers that lawmakers approved in 2016 on a 46-0 vote.

Authorities say 2 killed in suburban Omaha collision

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say two people have been killed and two others have been injured in a three-vehicle collision on a freeway stretch in the Omaha suburb of Bellevue.

The crash involved a car, a pickup truck and a flatbed truck and was reported a little after 3 a.m. Friday on southbound U.S. Highway 75 — the Kennedy Freeway. Southbound traffic was diverted to city streets.

The names of those involved haven’t been released. The two injured people were taken to Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

The crash cause is being investigated.

Omaha man sentenced for shooting death of Iowa man

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha teen has been sentenced to up to 12 years in prison for his role in the gun-play death of another man last year.

Omaha television station WOWT reports that 18-year-old Montana Garbez was sentenced Friday to six to 12 years for manslaughter for the April death of 20-year-old Scott Evans, of Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Garbez pleaded guilty to the charge in September. In exchange, a felony weapons count was dropped.

Police found Evans dead inside a home in north Omaha home after being called to the house for a report of a shooting.

Prosecutors say Garbez and another man appeared to have been using a gun in a game similar to Russian roulette, and Evans was shot in the head. Prosecutors say Garbez fired the deadly shot.

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