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County attorney releases name of woman killed in blast, fire

CHAMBERS, Neb. (AP) — A county attorney has released the name of a 93-year-old woman who died in an explosion and fire at her home in northern Nebraska.

Holt County Attorney Brent Kelly has confirmed that JoEllyn Lehmann was pronounced dead at her damaged home southeast of Chambers on Sunday evening. Investigators blamed the blast on a propane gas release inside the residence.

An autopsy determined that Lehmann died of injuries suffered in the explosion and fire. Kelly says she was alone in the home.

Former tenants of dilapidated Omaha apartments sue owner

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — More than 90 former tenants have sued the owner of Omaha apartments that the city has deemed unlivable.

City inspectors evacuated hundreds of Myanmar refugees from the Yale Park Apartments Sept. 20, citing issues such as unsafe electrical circuits, natural gas leaks and units infested with mice, bedbugs and maggots.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that the lawsuit filed last week seeks security deposits, rent refunds and damages stemming from living in the dilapidated buildings.

Efforts to reach owner Kay Anderson have been unsuccessful. He has said he was unfairly targeted by the city and groups advocating for refugees. He’s said his former tenants deserve some blame for not taking better care of their apartments.

Scott Lane is the city’s chief housing inspector, and he says Anderson has made little or no progress on rehabbing the property.

Papillion woman dies after getting stuck in home elevator 

PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) – A 25-year-old Papillion woman died after becoming stuck in a home elevator.

The Sarpy County sheriff’s office says deputies and Papillion firefighters were called to a home about 1 p.m. Thursday and found the woman stuck between part of the vertical lift system and the main floor of the residence. The woman, who was unconscious, was identified as Asha Chaudhuri.

It took the first responders about 20 minutes to free Chaudhuri. She was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Chaudhuri often used the lift to move between floors of the home.

Authorities say the death appears accidental but an investigation will continue.

Pursuit ends in Omaha following self-inflicted gunshot wound

The Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) has asked the Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office to investigate a pursuit that began in Saunders County and ended in Sarpy County. At the conclusion of the pursuit, the suspect died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. No shots were fired by law enforcement during the incident.

The pursuit began just before 3:00 p.m. when the Saunders County Sheriff’s Department began pursuing a suspect in connection with a theft in Wahoo. The suspect’s vehicle, a black Ford F-150, fled at speeds in excess of 80 miles per hour on Highway 92.

As the vehicle entered the Omaha metro area, the truck continued at a high rate of speed and at times drove against oncoming traffic. NSP became the primary agency in the pursuit at approximately 3:08 p.m. near 192nd and Harrison. Two minutes later, the vehicle entered a residential neighborhood and came to a stop with a flat rear tire near 181st and Gertrude St. At the point, a trooper heard a single gunshot.

Upon approaching the vehicle, the trooper found the driver with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The driver of the truck was later pronounced deceased at the scene. There were two women in the vehicle as well. Neither woman was injured.

At the request of NSP, the Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office will be conducting the investigation.

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Nebraska man charged with abuse after bedridden wife dies

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have charged a Nebraska man with abuse of a vulnerable adult after his bedridden, malnourished and badly injured wife died at their home.

The Lincoln man was charged Wednesday as a John Doe because officials don’t believe either of the names he goes by is his real one. A judge set his bail at $250,000 and scheduled his next hearing for Jan 23. Court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for him.

Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner said investigators are trying to piece together the man’s real identity and determine whether he is in the country legally.

According to prosecutors, the defendant called 911 early on Dec. 19 and said that his wife, 68-year-old Delanie Manning, was unconscious and wasn’t breathing, the Lincoln Journal Star reported. Medics were unable to revive her.

The man said Manning had been bedridden due to medical issues over the past six months and that he brought her water, soda pop and meals but had moved her out of the bed only three times since June. He told investigators that he wanted to take her to a hospital or a doctor, but that he didn’t because she was scared doctors would “put her away,” an arrest warrant affidavit said.

The defendant said his wife couldn’t chew or swallow food in her final three days. He told her the day before she died that she looked bad and he was going to call 911, but he was afraid he would get in trouble, according to the affidavit.

An autopsy showed that Manning was malnourished, had a broken left femur, multiple ulcers and exposed bone on her right ankle and knee.

Authorities say woman died in northern Nebraska house blast

CHAMBERS, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say a 93-year-old woman died in an explosion and fire at her home in northern Nebraska.

The Holt County attorney’s office says firefighters, medics and sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the home near Chambers on Sunday evening. Investigators blamed the blast on a propane gas release inside the residence.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy determined she died of injuries suffered in the explosion and fire. Her name hasn’t been released.

NSP investigating fatal crash following vehicle pursuit

The Nebraska State Patrol is investigating a crash in northwest Lincoln that followed a pursuit by the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office.

The crash occurred just after 8:00 a.m. today when Sheriff’s Deputies were pursuing a stolen vehicle on Interstate 80. The 2003 Chevrolet Trailblazer was traveling westbound on I-80 when it attempted to exit onto NW 48th street at mile marker 395. The vehicle failed to navigate the turn and rolled. All four occupants of the vehicle were ejected.

One of the occupants, Zayne Yost, 14, of Lincoln, was pronounced deceased at the scene. The three other occupants of the vehicle, Andrew Fisher, 16, Darius Hayes, 14, and Anthony Moreno, 15, were all transported to Bryan Medical Center and Bryan West Campus. At this time, none of their injuries are expected to be life-threatening. Investigators believe Hayes was driving at the time of the crash.

The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office has requested the Nebraska State Patrol to conduct an investigation into the incident. That investigation is ongoing.

Grand jury finds no criminal wrongdoing in inmate’s death 

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A grand jury investigating the death of an inmate who fell 11 times in his cell has found no criminal wrongdoing by officials.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that Tony D. Perez died last summer at a Lincoln hospital of blunt force head injuries. State law requires a grand jury investigation when someone dies in custody or while being arrested.

Perez been arrested Aug. 1 at the Fillmore County Courthouse, where he’d shown up drunk for a hearing. He was taken to the county jail and two days later to the Saline County Jail. He had a seizure that night and eventually was taken to the prison department’s Diagnostic and Evaluation Center in Lincoln.

The jury report says he suffered three falls at the center. He was taken to a Lincoln hospital and then declared brain-dead the morning of Aug. 5.

A review of the video showed Perez had fallen 11 times in his cell.

Rhode Island man gets Nebraska jail time for drugs

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Rhode Island man arrested on a drug charge has been sentenced to time in a Nebraska jail.

Lancaster County District Court records say 51-year-old John Carlson, of Cranston, Rhode Island, pleaded no contest last week and was found guilty after prosecutors lowered the charge to possession of more than a pound of marijuana. He was given 180 days and fined $2,500.

Carlson and Richard Wilkinson, of Damascus, Oregon, were arrested in November last year after authorities found drugs in a van Wilkinson was driving on Interstate 80 in Lincoln. The drugs: 110 pounds (50 kilograms) of marijuana, 3,500 marijuana seeds, vials of hash oil and 25 pounds (11.3 kilograms) of shatter, which is a concentrated form of the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

Wilkinson has pleaded not guilty to possession of controlled substances for sale and is awaiting trial.

Head-on collision kills driver in northeast Nebraska

HARTINGTON, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say a driver was killed and four people were injured in a three-vehicle collision in northeast Nebraska.

The accident occurred Tuesday night on U.S. Highway 81 in Cedar County. Authorities say 82-year-old Marjorie Novak, of Hartington, was headed south in her pickup truck when it struck a northbound vehicle driven by a Yankton, South Dakota, man. A second northbound vehicle, driven by 52-year-old Brenda Saltzman, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, then ran into the rear of the first.

Authorities say Novak was pronounced dead at the scene. The Yankton man and Saltzman and her two passengers were taken to hospitals.

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