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Children share stories of Iowa dad, a deputy slain on duty

Pottawattamie-County-SherifCOUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — The western Iowa sheriff’s deputy who was killed during a jail escape is being remembered for the way he treated everyone with respect.

Hundreds of law enforcement officers filled the floor of an arena Monday in Council Bluffs to honor Pottawattamie County Deputy Mark Burbridge. Burbridge was fatally wounded last Monday when an inmate returning from court grabbed a gun and shot Burbridge and another deputy. He was captured after a police chase in nearby Omaha, Nebraska.

Burbridge’s three children shared memories of him and his regular trips to auto parts stores so he could fix up his beloved classic cars.

Daughter Karley Burbridge says her dad was her hero not just for his work protecting the community but also for protecting her from the monsters under her bed.

Funeral will be held Monday for deputy killed in jail escape

Pottawattamie-County-SherifCOUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — The western Iowa sheriff’s deputy who was fatally wounded in a jail escape last week will be laid to rest on Monday.

The funeral for Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Deputy Mark Burbridge will be 10 a.m. Monday at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It will be open to the public.

Afterward, more than 1,000 law enforcement vehicles are expected to escort Burbridge’s body back to the funeral home. Some mourners are expected to line up along the procession route to pay their respects to Burbridge.

Police say Wesley Correa-Carmenaty was being transported to the Council Bluffs jail after sentencing last Monday when he attacked Burbridge and another deputy, grabbed one of their guns and shot them before fleeing in a jail van. He was recaptured in neighboring Omaha, Nebraska.

Lincoln woman charged with homicide in Grand Island crash

Grand-Island-PoliceGRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln woman has been charged with misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide in a fatal December crash in Grand Island.

35-year-old Sheri Jindra was charged on Friday for the Dec. 11 crash that killed 41-year-old Melissa Brown, of Grand Island.

Grand Island police say Brown was driving an SUV east on Husker Highway when she was hit by Jindra’s southbound minivan. Police say Jindra ran a red light.

Rescue crews found Brown unresponsive at the scene, and she was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Brown’s husband, a passenger in the SUV, received minor injuries.

Jindra is scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday in Hall County Court. If convicted, she faces up to a year in jail.

Nebraska trooper charged with theft from patrol facility

state-patrol-logoOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska State Patrol investigator has been accused of stealing ammunition from the patrol’s facility in Omaha.

44-year-old Christopher Kober, of Bellevue, was arrested Friday and has been charged with felony theft. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

A patrol news release says Kober has been a trooper since 1994 and is on unpaid leave. Court documents say Kober’s wife called police to report the ammunition in their home.

An attorney for Kober, Clarence Mock, tells the newspaper that Kober did take ammunition from the patrol’s facility, but that it was the regular practice of troopers to take ammunition. He says officers would use it “for personal use” and for “improving their skills.”

Kober is free on bond.

New Omaha program aims to prevent violence among teens

crime-scene-police-shootOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A new violence-prevention program in Omaha aims to show youth what happens to gunshot victims inside the emergency room.

Dusk to Dawn is a collaboration between the Omaha Police Department, Boys & Girls Clubs and the anti-violence group YouTurn Omaha. The free program was announced during a press conference Monday.

Dr. Charity Evans, a trauma surgeon with the Nebraska Medical Center, says she hopes teens in the program listen to what happened to other teens involved in violence and learn decisions have consequences and know how to defuse tense situations.

Dusk to Dawn will be held monthly with up to 15 students. The program began with a $100,000 grant from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, but will need more funding to continue.

Renewable energy plant facing more than $50K in safety fines

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SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb. (AP) — A northeast Nebraska renewable energy plant is facing more than $50,000 in fines from safety regulators.

The citations and subsequent fines follow a six-month Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigations at the Big Ox Energy plant in South Sioux City.

The investigation was spurred by worker exposure to hydrogen sulfide gas. OSHA investigators cited Big Box for a lack of protection, education and safety practices for employees.

Big Ox Energy spokesman Kevin Bradley says the company “responded immediately after being made aware of the issues, and we also brought in top experts to verify the facility was operating properly.”

Sewer odor issues blamed on the plant displaced as many as two dozen families at their height last fall.

Man accused in jail escape to be held in another Iowa county

Wesley Correa-Carmenaty
Wesley Correa-Carmenaty

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a man accused of killing a deputy and wounding another while escaping from an Iowa county jail before being recaptured in Nebraska will be held at a different county jail once he returns to Iowa.

Twenty-three-year-old Wesley Correa-Carmenaty agreed to extradition during a hearing Thursday in Omaha.

Woodbury County Sheriff Dave Drew said Correa-Carmenaty will be held at his jail in Sioux City and that his officers will take great caution in handling him. Sioux City is 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of Council Bluffs, where Correa-Carmenaty escaped Monday.

Authorities say Correa-Carmenaty had just been sentenced to 45 years imprisonment in an unrelated case when he managed to grab one of the two deputies’ guns while being transferred the Council Bluffs jail.

2 men injured after falling from pickup; driver charged

Jesse Rabago
Jesse Rabago

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Police say a Lincoln man was arrested after two men fell out of the back of his pickup truck.

Court records say 33-year-old Jesse Rabago is charged with two felony counts of failing to stop and render aid. The records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for him.

Police say the two fell out of the pickup about 10 minutes apart at different locations in Lincoln on Tuesday night. One man was taken to a hospital for treatment of a brain bleed. The other also was treated for a head injury.

Man accused in deadly Iowa jail escape agrees to extradition

Wesley Correa-Carmenaty
Wesley Correa-Carmenaty

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A man accused of killing a deputy and wounding another while escaping from an Iowa jail before being recaptured in Nebraska is going back to Iowa to face charges.

Wesley Correa-Carmenaty agreed during a hearing in Omaha on Thursday to be extradited to Iowa to face charges of murder and attempted murder, among others.

Matthew Wilber, the head prosecutor for Iowa’s Pottawattamie County, says officials will likely wait until after the slain deputy’s funeral on Monday to retrieve Correa-Carmenaty. They have 10 days in which to do so.

Authorities say Correa-Carmenaty had just been sentenced to 45 years in prison in an unrelated case when he managed to grab one of the two deputies’ guns while being transferred to a Council Bluffs, Iowa, jail. He shot them both and used a van to escape but was recaptured across the state border in Omaha. d shoot them, killing one and wounding the other.

Crews rescue man from southeastern Nebraska grain elevator

police-lights-redRAYMOND, Neb. (AP) — Rescue crews have saved a man trapped inside a southeast Nebraska grain elevator.

Officials were called shortly after 11 a.m. to the grain elevator in Raymond on reports of a man being stuck in the grain below the waist.

Officials say the man was in the middle of the bin in about 5 to 6 feet of grain, but was surrounded by walls of grain 20 feet high, which threatened to bury him if the grain collapsed.

Crews were able to cut hole on the side of the bin to get grain out. The man was freed after about two hours inside the bin.

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