SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a 16-year-old boy injured in a Sioux City apartment fire has died at a Nebraska burn center.

Sioux City police say in a news release that Misael Gonzales Velasquez died at Saint Elizabeth Regional Burn and Wound Center in Lincoln around 3 a.m. Monday. He was flown there Sunday after initial treatment at a Sioux City hospital.

Firetrucks were sent to the building around 3:40 a.m. Sunday, and firefighters say the flames filled an upstairs apartment where they found the boy.

The fire cause is being investigated. Authorities say the blaze displaced 13 building occupants.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A defense attorney says only one Nebraska county requires someone to appear before a judge to be released from jail after paying bond.

Kenneth Buckingham had to wait two days and had to appear before a judge in Lancaster County after his fiancee paid his bail to be released from jail.

State law allows a judge to require the sheriff or jailer to bring an accused person to the courthouse before the person bonds out of jail.

While the extra step makes it easier to convict defendants who fail to appear in court, other counties require defendants to sign an appearance bond at the jail to ensure they’ll return to court, said Tim Noerrlinger, Buckingham’s defense attorney.

“No one else does it that way,” Noerrlinger of Lancaster County. “From Norfolk on down and Grand Island on out. It’s atypical.”

The additional time in jail, the transportation to and from court and attorneys’ fees end up costing taxpayers.

“They just paid me to sit there 20 minutes,” Noerrlinger said after a recent court appearance.

Some believe appearing before a judge is more effective, said retired Lancaster County District Judge Jeffre Cheuvront.

“I think there was a feeling that if you were brought into court and you were in front of a judge and you swore to the bond, it may have more of an effect on the person than if you just did it in the jail,” he said.

Judges typically try to fit in bond-swear hearings as soon as possible, but it can be difficult with their busy schedules, said Lancaster County Public Defender Joe Nigro.

“From our perspective, we would prefer if people could post bond at the jail,” he said. “The whole process is cumbersome.”

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Douglas County prosecutor Don Kleine says he plans to appeal the sentence of retired Omaha fire captain found guilty earlier this year of sexually assaulting three young girls, saying he thinks the man got off too easy.

Lee Dunbar was sentenced Friday to 15-16 years on each of all five counts of first-degree child sexual assault for assaults on girls all younger than 12. The victims included two foster children of Dunbar’s. The judge ordered the sentences served at the same time.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that Kleine said Friday that by ordering the sentences served concurrently, the judge effectively wiped out four of the convictions.

Dunbar had faced up to life in prison.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police say a suspect shot in neck by an Omaha police officer during a struggle at a traffic stop has been released from the hospital and booked into the Douglas County Jail.

Micah Taylor has been charged with assault on an officer, flight to avoid arrest and drug and weapons charges.

Police say the 21-year-old Taylor was shot Thursday after being stopped as part of a police sting on U.S. Highway 75 by Officer David Staskiewicz. Police say Taylor struggled with Staskiewicz when he refused to get out of his car, then took off in the car, briefly dragging Staskiewicz. Staskiewicz fired his gun three times as he was dragged, hitting Taylor once.

Staskiewicz suffered minor injuries in the struggle.

Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer says police video of the incident shows Staskiewicz was justified in using deadly force.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say they arrested a man after drugs were found in his sport utility vehicle after a traffic stop along Interstate 80 in east Omaha.

The stop was made around 10:30 p.m. Thursday. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office says the deputy who pulled over the SUV became suspicious and deployed his patrol dog. The office says the dog alerted the deputy to the presence of drugs in the SUV. A search turned up 23 bags containing nearly 27 pounds (12 kilograms) of marijuana and 2,000 vials of what deputies suspect is hash oil.

The Sheriff’s Office says the driver was traveling from California to Des Moines, Iowa. He was arrested on suspicion of possession for sale and of other crimes. Court records don’t show that he’s been formally charged.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A retired Omaha fire captain found guilty earlier this year of sexually assaulting three young girls, including two foster children, has been sentenced to at least 15 years in prison.

60-year-old Lee Dunbar was sentenced Friday to 15-16 years on each of all five counts of first-degree child sexual assault. The judge ordered the sentences served at the same time.

Prosecutors have said all of the victims were under the age of 12 when they were assaulted by Dunbar at his home. The foster children were 8 and 9 when they were assaulted.

They testified during the trial that Dunbar would assault them repeatedly as they watched movies in his bedroom.

Dunbar had faced up to life in prison.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An appeal by an Omaha man convicted of killing a longtime family friend has resulted in a stiffer — not lighter — prison sentence.

Matthew Kidder was convicted in 2016 of first-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon in the death of 28-year-old Jessyka Nelson, who had been raped and strangled in her home on June 25, 2015. Kidder was sentenced to life in prison. He was also initially sentenced to 50 years for the weapon count, but a judge modified it to 20 years after being told 50 years was outside the range allowed by law.

On Friday, the Nebraska Supreme Court upheld Kidder’s convictions and life sentence, but ordered the trial court to reinstate its original 50-year sentence, saying Nebraska law does allow up to 50 years and “thus, the court’s initial pronouncement … was valid.”

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha police say an officer fired his gun three times as he was briefly dragged by a car he had stopped on U.S. Highway 75.

The account comes a day after Officer David Staskiewicz, as part of a police sting operation, stopped 21-year-old Micah Taylor on the highway.

Police say the 49-year-old Staskiewicz ordered Taylor out of the car, and Taylor refused. Police say when Staskiewicz opened Taylor’s door and tried to remove him, a struggle ensued. Staskiewicz pulled his gun and Taylor drove off, dragging the officer. Police say Staskiewicz then fired three shots, hitting Taylor once in the neck.

Taylor soon crashed and was taken to a hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening. Police say he’ll be charged with assaulting an officer and other counts when he’s released from the hospital.

Staskiewicz was treated at a hospital for injuries caused by being dragged.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Sheriff’s deputies in eastern Nebraska say they have seized methamphetamine, opioids and marijuana in two separate traffic stops along Interstate 80 in Omaha.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office says the first stop around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday led to a search of the stopped car that turned up three pounds of meth and three packages of prescription fentanyl. Two people in the car were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to deliver and having no drug tax stamp.

Early Thursday morning, a deputy stopped another car, which was found to contain two suitcases holding 20 vacuum sealed bags of marijuana totaling 22 pounds. Deputies say they also found 20 grams of suspected meth and 62 grams of hash. That driver, too, was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to deliver and having no drug tax stamp.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Two of the five people charged in connection with several Lincoln bank robberies have changed their pleas to guilty.

Israel Holmes entered his plea Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Lincoln. Julian Huffman entered his plea last week.

The three other suspects are scheduled to enter pleas in the coming weeks.

Court records say seven banks were robbed for a total of more than $49,000 from May through October. Prosecutors say pepper spray was used on bank employees in at least two of the robberies and the robbers also used realistic-looking BB guns to menace the employees.