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Grand jury finds charges warranted against ex-Omaha officers

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A grand jury has concluded that criminal charges are warranted against two former Omaha police officers in the June stun gun-related death of a mentally ill man.

The Douglas County grand jury also made several recommendations in its conclusion Tuesday, suggesting that an Omaha police sergeant’s failure to seek to have 29-year-old Zachary Bearheels committed to a mental health facility.

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine in July announced charges against former officers Scotty Payne and Ryan McClarty, separate from the grand jury process.

Police video shows Payne using a stun gun repeatedly on Bearheels, and McClarty is seen punching Bearheels outside an Omaha convenience store. Some of the blows came after Bearheels was on the ground and not resisting.

Payne has been charged with felony assault. McClarty is charged with misdemeanor assault.

Nebraska law requires a grand jury probe when someone dies in police custody.

Police say man died at hospital after being shot in Omaha

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police say a man died after being shot on the south side of Omaha.

Officers sent to investigate the report of a shooting found the wounded man. Police say he died after being taken to Nebraska Medical Center.

He’s been identified as 32-year-old Matthew Johnson.

No arrests have been reported.

Nebraska appeals court upholds manslaughter conviction

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Court of Appeals has upheld the convictions of an Omaha man serving 14 to 22 years in prison for killing another man.

Carl Heng was convicted last year in Douglas County of manslaughter and a weapons count in the Aug. 24, 2015, shooting death of 25-year-old Robert Lane. Heng acknowledged shooting Lane, but argued it was in self-defense. Prosecutors said Lane was unarmed and not posing a threat to Heng.

On appeal, Heng claimed, among other things, that his trial court was wrong to exclude expert testimony and that there had not been sufficient evidence to convict him.

On Tuesday, the appeals court said Heng’s claims were without merit and that there was sufficient evidence to support the jury’s conclusion that Heng did not act in self-defense.

EPA reaches settlement with energy plant over toxic odors

SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb. (AP) — Federal officials say a company whose northeast Nebraska renewable energy plant was the main contributor to toxic odors that drove some people out of their homes has agreed to a $50,000 settlement.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says in a news release Tuesday that Big Ox Energy also agreed to work with the EPA and the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality to prevent future chemical releases like those that occurred at the company’s South Sioux City plant last year.

EPA investigators found in January that Big Ox discharges at its South Sioux City plant contributed to the creation of toxic gases that sickened a plant worker.

Sewer odor issues blamed on the plant displaced 26 households at their height in 2016.

FEMA suspends aid for Omaha Tribe after audit questions

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The federal government is suspending disaster aid for the Omaha Tribe because auditors couldn’t verify how the tribe spent $14 million in past aid.

The Department of Homeland Security said Tuesday that auditors couldn’t find documentation to show how the tribe spent the money it received after the 2011 Missouri River flooding.

The tribe’s attorney didn’t immediately respond to a message Tuesday afternoon.

The flooding covered hundreds of thousands of acres of land along the Missouri River in Iowa, Nebraska and Missouri in 2011 after massive amounts of water was released from upstream dams.

The tribe was forced to close down its casino that employed 181 people and 11 homes had to be rebuilt. Farmland the tribe owned in Iowa and Nebraska was also damaged.

Police: Omaha man dies after being shot in north Omaha

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police say a man shot in north Omaha over the weekend had died of his injuries.

Police say 56-year-old Lionel Johnson died Monday at a hospital. Officers investigating a report of a shooting a day earlier had found him on a sidewalk suffering from a gunshot wound.

Police say the case is being investigated as a homicide.

No arrests had been reported by Tuesday evening.

Inmate who helped 2 others escape gets more prison time

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A prisoner who helped two other inmates escape a Lincoln prison has been given more time behind bars.

Court records say 27-year-old Brandon D. Williams was sentenced to three to four years in prison — time that will be added to the 10 to 15 years he’s already serving for a robbery in Douglas County. He’d pleaded no contest in the escape case.

Prosecutors say that on June 10 last year, Williams helped Lincoln Correctional Center inmates Timothy Clausen and Armon Dixon hide in a laundry cart before rolling the cart into a laundry truck that was headed to another prison.

They escaped from the truck after it left the center. Dixon was caught the next day in Lincoln, and Clausen was caught five days later at an Omaha apartment.

Driver dies in Omaha Interstate 80 crash

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 31-year-old driver has died in a crash on Interstate 80 in Omaha.

The accident occurred around 2:10 p.m. Tuesday on the east side of the city. The Omaha Police Department says an eastbound sport utility vehicle drifted into another lane and then, when the driver overcorrected, slid across two lanes and struck a parked semitrailer in a construction zone.

Police say the driver died later at an Omaha hospital. He’s been identified as Tyrone Santos Morales, who lived in the Omaha suburb of Bellevue.

Officers find body believed to be that of missing woman

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a body believed to be that of a missing 24-year-old Lincoln woman has been found in southeast Nebraska’s Clay County.

The FBI’s Randy Thysse (THEYE’-see) said at a Lincoln news conference Tuesday that investigators strongly believe the female body was that of Sydney Loofe, who was reported missing Nov. 16. Thysee says positive identification awaits autopsy results.

Lincoln Police Chief Jeff Bliemeister (BLEYE’-meye-stur) said investigators directed officers to where they found the body. The officers also discovered evidence that a crime was involved in her death. He wouldn’t provide specifics.

Bliemeister (BLEYE’-meye-stur) says investigators are still talking to 51-year-old Aubrey Trail and 23-year-old Bailey Boswell, who had reported online that they had contact with Loofe. Bliemeister says neither has been charged with any crime related to Loofe’s disappearance.

Ex-tribal chairman gets probation for theft from casino

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A former chairman of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska has been sentenced to probation and community service after pleading guilty to charges related to the misapplication of casino funds.

U.S. District Court Judge Laurie Smith Camp on Monday sentenced 63-year-old John Blackhawk to five years of probation and 150 hours of community service. He also must pay $36,000 in restitution.

Blackhawk pleaded guilty in September to theft from an Indian gaming establishment.

During 2013 and 2014, Blackhawk took unauthorized disbursements from the WinnaVegas Casino and Resort in Sloan, Iowa, totaling $36,000 in the form of gift certificates.

Blackhawk is one of nine former council members accused of a conspiracy to steal money from the casino.

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