OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say a driver died when his car rammed into a tree in northeast Omaha.
The accident occurred around 1:15 a.m. Sunday. Police say the eastbound car ran off a roadway and rolled before hitting the tree. Police say speed and alcohol use are being investigated as contributing factors.
The driver was identified as 32-year-old Vernon Welchen Jr., who lived in Omaha.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A pilot program that stationed a mental health therapist in an Omaha police precinct will be expanded to every precinct, officials said.
The primary goal: Decrease the instances of officers taking into custody people struggling with mental health issues. Officials also hope to connect people to the services they require and reduce the number of times officers must respond to people and their mental health crises.
“We know that we have a lot of folks in our community that may be struggling with mental health, and sometimes there are not enough resources for those folks,” said Omaha Deputy Police Chief Michele Bang. She told the Omaha World-Herald that therapists will have the skill set “to talk to them and get them to settle and be cooperative and get them into services as opposed to corrections or an arrest scenario.”
The department has had one therapist based at the southwest precinct. Another is scheduled to begin work Wednesday in the northwest precinct. The department hopes by the end of the year to have hired a third therapist and a mental health coordinator, then two more therapists in 2020.
The therapists are also known as co-responders. Having them at each precinct can help all officers who interact with the public, Bang said.
Many of the mental health-related calls are not emergencies. They include handling requests to check the well-being of someone or answering a complaint about hoarding or an unkempt yard. The circumstances could be indicators of someone’s mental illness. The co-responders can review call responses to determine which tactics worked and provide advice and training.
Officials “at least know anecdotally” that the pilot program has worked, Bang said.
And it’s beneficial for the officers, too, she said: “These are stressful calls.”
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — When a race car’s throttle became stuck, at least two people were hurt, including one with critical injuries, when the car crashed in the pit area at a Nebraska track over the weekend.
Cass County Sheriff William Brueggemann said the crash happened around 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Eagle Raceway. A hospital spokeswoman says 35-year-old Justin Vanderharr of Lincoln remained in critical condition on Sunday.
Vanderharr had internal injuries and needed surgery after being pinned underneath a car.
Investigators determined that the throttle on 60-year-old John Austin’s Hobby Stock car got stuck open at the end of his race, and the car became airborne as it exited pit row. Austin’s car struck a parked race car, which was pushed into an all-terrain vehicle and a group of people.
Thirty-five-year-old Michael Ramsey of Bellevue was also injured, but he was released after being treated at a Lincoln hospital.
BOYS TOWN, Neb. (AP) — Boys Town youth residents have elected 17-year-old Josh Reed, of Fort Calhoun, as mayor of the village in west Omaha.
A news release from the organization says Reed becomes the 119th mayor of Boys Town. Ja’had Hart, of Erwin, North Carolina, was elected vice mayor.
Reed is a captain of the Boys Town cross-country team and is a member of the track team and student council. Hart competes on the basketball, football, baseball and track teams.
The Rev. Edward Flanagan, founder of Boys Town, conceived the self-government system in 1926 as a tool for the town’s citizens to build character, citizenship and a sense of community. The process was made famous in the 1938 Academy Award-winning movie “Boys Town,” where Mickey Rooney portrayed Whitey Marsh, a tough young boy who turns his life around and becomes mayor of Boys Town.
SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb. (AP) — Officials in northeastern Nebraska say a South Sioux City police officer and a suspect have been injured in a shootout outside a bar and liquor store.
The shooting happened around 2 a.m. Saturday, when police were called to Los Amigos for a man holding a gun. Police say the first officer to arrive at the scene confronted the man, and the two exchanged gunfire. Police Chief Ed Mahon said he could not provide more detail about how the shooting began or who was first to fire.
The officer and suspect were taken to a nearby hospital. Their names and medical conditions have not been released.
The Nebraska State Patrol is investigating the shooting.
TECUMSEH, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska State Patrol is investigating the shooting of two brothers that officials say occurred when the brothers and their father forced their way into a Tecumseh couple’s home during a dispute.
The patrol says the shooting happened late Friday night after Raymond Brown and his wife received several threatening phone calls from former co-workers, 26-year-old Colton Bridgewater and 20-year-old Levi Bridgewater.
The patrol says the Bridgewaters and their father, 50-year-old Kenneth Bridgewater, showed up at the Browns’ home, forced their way inside and began fighting with Raymond Brown. Investigators say Brown then shot the brothers.
Kenneth Bridgewater, who also had a gun, was arrested on suspicion making terroristic threats, assault and several other counts. Colton and Levi Bridgewater were flown to a Lincoln hospital with serious injuries.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — A fifth farmer has pleaded guilty to his role in an organic grain fraud scheme that involved at least $140 million in sales of grain.
John Burton, of Clarksdale, Missouri, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.
Burton, 52, admitted that grain grown on his non-organic fields was marketed and sold as organic and that unapproved substances were used on fields certified as organic. Federal prosecutors are seeking to require that he forfeit $2.2 million that was traced to the scheme.
Burton’s plea comes months after one of his associates, 61-year-old Randy Constant of Chillicothe, Missouri, pleaded guilty to charges alleging he masterminded the scheme.
Constant made many of the fraudulent sales through an Iowa grain brokerage that he owned. Three other Nebraska farmers have also pleaded guilty in the case.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha man has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for filming himself raping a 13-year-old child.
Federal prosecutors for Nebraska say in a news release that 38-year-old Steven Carlson was sentenced Friday in Omaha’s federal court. Upon his release, he will be subject to a lifetime of supervision. There is no parole in the federal system.
Carlson pleaded guilty in February to one count of production of child pornography.
Prosecutors say as part of the plea, Carlson admitted that in May 2016, he filmed himself forcibly sexually assaulting a 13-year-old nonverbal child. Officials say a search warrant executed on Carlson’s home resulted in the discovery of hundreds of images of child pornography involving minors as young as infants.
DAKOTA CITY, Neb. (AP) – A man has again been ruled incompetent to stand trial on murder and dismemberment charges.
Dakota County District Court records say a judge made that pronouncement Thursday on 28-year-old Andres Surber. He’s pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the November 2016 slaying of 41-year-old Kraig Kubik at Kubik’s home in Emerson. Another man charged, Brayan Galvan-Hernandez, has been sentenced to 50 to 60 years in prison.
In April 2017 a judge found Surber not mentally competent for trial. In October last year the judge found Surber competent, in line with a report submitted by a state psychiatrist. After another review, a state psychiatrist found Surber mentally incompetent, which led to Thursday’s ruling.
Surber has been diagnosed with schizophrenic effectiveness disorder with bipolar symptoms and continually talks out loud to himself during court hearings. Prosecutors say it’s just an act he puts on.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say one person was killed and one injured in a Lincoln crash.
The crash occurred around 2 a.m. Friday near the Kawasaki plant in northwest Lincoln.
Police say a westbound sport utility vehicle crossed over into the eastbound lanes of West Fletcher and rolled.
A 32-year-old man who was ejected and pinned under the SUV was pronounced dead at the scene. The other occupant, who also was ejected, was taken to a hospital.
The names of those involved haven’t been released.
