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Nebraska man awaiting sentencing for shootings faces new charges

Leshawn Rogers
Leshawn Rogers

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A man awaiting sentencing in a Lincoln shooting has been arrested again.

Leshawn Rogers was one of five people arrested Tuesday at a Lincoln home after officers serving an arrest warrant on another man found marijuana, four guns and more than $13,500 in cash there.

Rogers has been charged with possession of marijuana for sale, two firearms crimes and with possession of money while violating a state statute.

Rogers is scheduled to be sentenced next week in the Feb. 11 shootings of two men during a botched drug deal. He pleaded no contest to two counts of assault.

3 teens suspected in 1 or more carjackings in Omaha

crimeOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have arrested three teenagers suspected of one or more carjackings in Omaha.

The three were arrested Thursday morning after they ran from a vehicle that had been reported stolen at gunpoint in northwest Omaha. The car owner told police that a man demanded the keys to her car Wednesday afternoon and then struck her in the face with a firearm. He took her keys and drove off in her car.

The three teens — two are 14 and the other is 16 — are being investigated for possible connections to two more carjackings, a purse theft and a failed carjacking.

Man accused of beating brother, aiming vehicle at officers

police-lights-redOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha police have arrested a 36-year-old man who they say beat his brother, aimed a vehicle at officers and ran into a police cruiser.

The man’s brother told responding officers that he escaped his brother after being struck several times as they argued Wednesday night. Police say the man was found sitting in his vehicle nearby in northeast Omaha, but he ignored commends to get out and then drove toward the officers, missing them.

Police say officers chased the man across the Missouri River into Council Bluffs, where he rammed a police cruiser before driving back into Omaha. He stopped in the Old Market area, where officers took him into custody with the aid of a police dog.

Online court records don’t show that he’s been formally charged yet.

Authorities: Man in Lincoln house fire died of liver disease

fatal-fireLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a man found dead inside a Lincoln house that caught fire last month died from a medical condition.

An autopsy shows 57-year-old David G. Spinar died of liver disease. His body was found Oct. 27 after firefighters were dispatched to a burning home near the University of Nebraska-Lincoln East Campus.

Lincoln Fire Investigator Ken Hilger tells the newspaper that Spinar knocked over a lamp before he died. The unbroken bulb eventually ignited the fire.

Arson suspect also pleads not guilty to probation violation

Sara Piccolo
Sara Piccolo

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Prosecutors are trying to revoke the probation of a woman convicted of attacking a Lincoln high school classmate in 2013.

Sarah Piccolo pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Lancaster County District Court to violating her probation. Prosecutors are citing her pending arson case in Douglas County. Piccolo is charged with starting a fire earlier this month in a bathroom at Metropolitan Community College in Omaha. She’s pleaded not guilty to the felony arson charge in that case.

Piccolo was sentenced to five years of probation for using a hunting knife and a claw hammer to attack a 17-year-old girl at Lincoln Pius X High School in October 2013. The girl was hospitalized.

Piccolo was 16 in 2013 but was being prosecuted as an adult.

Gage County to challenge insurance coverage for $28M lawsuit

lawsuit-settlementBEATRICE, Neb. (AP) — Gage County will challenge its insurers’ decision not to cover it for a $28.1 million judgment awarded to six people who were wrongfully convicted of murder.

The county board approved hiring a law firm Wednesday to fight its insurers’ decision not to cover the lawsuit filed by six people who were wrongfully convicted in the 1985 murder of a Beatrice woman.

County officials have said Gage County doesn’t have the resources to pay the judgment.

The Keating O’Gara law firm will receive more money if it manages to collect from the Nebraska Intergovernmental Risk Management Association or EMC Insurance.

Apology given, but cell tower still expected to go up

File Image
File Image

COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — A council member has apologized for her vote to erect a cell tower in a Columbus park, but the tower is still expected to go up.

Several people who live near Glur Park criticized the City Council at its Monday meeting for its August approval of Verizon’s request to erect an 80-foot tower designed to resemble an evergreen tree. Many of the residents complained that they weren’t notified about the proposal and so couldn’t register their opposition with city officials.

Councilwoman Beth Augustine-Schulte apologized for her vote for the tower, saying she wouldn’t want it across the street from her house either.

City Attorney Neal Valorz told the crowd that reneging on the Verizon contract would open the city to a lawsuit.

Omaha school teachers get training day for student behavior

omaha-psOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Teachers at an Omaha middle school dealing with unruly student behavior have received an extra day of training that focused on student discipline.

Nathan Hale Magnet Middle School teachers say some students are disruptive and exhibit aggressive behavior, including assaults on staff and other students. Educators participated in a training course Tuesday designed to give them better techniques to deescalate behavioral problems and engage students.

A consulting firm is assisting with the training.

Omaha Public Schools officials have held parent meetings about the problems and pledged to provide more staff and training.

Additional security guards and student deans have been added and the school is hiring a social worker.

Man linked to Lincoln homicide gets prison in robbery case

Joseph Bratt
Joseph Bratt

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 21-year-old man has been given 10 to 15 years in prison for his role in an attempted robbery that led to a fatal shooting in Lincoln.

Online court records say Joseph Bratt had pleaded no contest to attempted robbery in exchange for prosecutors dropping a weapons charge. Bratt was sentenced Tuesday.

Authorities say Bratt, Brandon Benson and Joshua Lock were charged after the November 2015 robbery attempt of people trying to buy marijuana. Authorities say Benson later went back to the house where the robbery attempt failed and fired several handgun rounds, killing 19-year-old Richard Randall Jr., of Plattsmouth, and wounding 18-year-old Angok Wal, of Bellevue.

Benson is scheduled to be sentenced next week. Lock is set to be sentenced on Dec. 16.

Omaha Council renames street section to honor civil rights leader

omahaOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The City Council has voted unanimously to rename a two-block street section in north Omaha for a local civil rights leader.

The proposal approved Tuesday renames Lake Street from North 22nd to North 24th Street for Bertha Calloway. She helped found the Great Plains Black History Museum in 1976 and served as director and curator. City officials say Calloway also participated in protests to integrate diners and the city’s Peony Park.

Councilman Ben Gray says the application for the name change was “something that has been a long time coming.”

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