LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say eight people have been arrested with guns and drugs in the Omaha and Lincoln areas.
Federal prosecutors say several pounds of cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana were found during 11 searches conducted Monday. Authorities declined to provide any names until indictments are unsealed.
Four people were arrested on federal charges and the remainder on state charges.
Ten law enforcement agencies were involved in the operation.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha man has been charged with child abuse for the accidental shooting of a 4-year-old boy.
Court records say 27-year-old Jared Nichols also is charged with tampering with physical evidence. A court document says Nichols threw the handgun into a sewer after the shooting Sunday evening in northeast Omaha. Court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for Nichols.
It’s unclear who was holding the gun when it went off, striking Princeton Shannon-Davis in a hand. A neighbor called 911 after the shooting, and Princeton was soon taken to Nebraska Medical Center for treatment.
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A Nebraska man has been given two years of probation for stealing prescription painkillers while working at a pharmacy in Council Bluffs.
Court records show 24-year-old Justin Gardner, of Omaha, pleaded guilty Monday to possession for sale. Prosecutors dropped two other counts in exchange. Gardner was granted a deferred judgment. Under a deferred judgment, the conviction will be removed from Gardner’s record if he successfully completes the terms of his probation.
Gardner also is awaiting trial in Council Bluffs on a charge of sexual abuse. Prosecutors say a woman reported that she had been drinking the night of Feb. 25 and woke up at a friend’s apartment as Gardner sexually assaulted her. She told police he didn’t stop when she told him to. He told investigators the sex was consensual.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A woman whose baby was due mid-May went into labor early and gave birth at a Nebraska zoo.
Drea Hubbard was born Sunday at the Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium, weighing 5 pounds, 5 ounces.
Her mother, 24-year-old Kymica Hubbard, says the birth took about two minutes from when her water broke.
Hubbard was so taken by surprise that she was still standing when Drea’s head appeared. Her husband, Justin Hubbard, caught the child and wrapped her in a sweater as other zoo visitors gathered around.
The zoo’s nurse, Krystal Hartmann, says Drea is the first human baby she’s seen delivered at the facility.
While Kymica Hubbard says she never thought she would have a baby in public, her husband said he “wouldn’t trade the experience for the world.”
PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — Firefighters used a private citizen’s boat to rescue a visually impaired teenager who’d flipped while kayaking on a lake in an Omaha suburb.
Deputy Fire Chief Jeff Jones of the Papillion (pub-PIHL’-yuhn) department says the boy’s mother was watching from shore Monday evening as he paddled across Walnut Creek Lake. The boy was wearing a life jacket and was able to hold onto a nearby tree in the 105-acre impoundment after the kayak turned over 40 to 50 yards from shore.
Jones says a man who happened by offered his boat, so one of the firefighters borrowed it and motored out to reach the teen and return him to safety. The boy was cold but not injured.
Jones says the boy’s kayak was recovered later.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 4-year-old boy has been shot in a hand in northeast Omaha.
Officers and medics were sent to the home around 5:15 p.m. Sunday. The boy soon was taken to Nebraska Medical Center for treatment of his non-life-threatening injury.
Police haven’t released his name or other details about the shooting.
YORK, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska man who was convicted of killing his 12-year-old sister when he was 14 has gotten a new sentence.
On Friday a York County district judge sentenced 44-year-old Sydney Thieszen to 70 years to life, giving him an eventual chance at parole. Thieszen was convicted in 1988 of killing his sister, Sacha Thieszen, at their home near Henderson. Prosecutors say Thieszen killed his sister because he was afraid she would tell police he was running away from home.
Thieszen had filed a motion for post-conviction relief in 2013 in light of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that declared mandatory life-without-parole sentences unconstitutional for juvenile offenders.
SCHUYLER, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 3-year-old Nebraska boy has died after a car power window closed on his neck.
Colfax County Attorney Denise Kracl (KRAHT’-suhl) said Monday that 3-year-old Everton Isay Romero Romero was pronounced dead Friday at an Omaha hospital. Kracl says Everton never regained consciousness after the window closed on him April 15 outside a store in Schuyler, where he lived.
She says it’s unclear how the window button was activated in the parked car. Everton’s mom had powered the rear window down. Investigators couldn’t determine how long the window was closed on the boy’s neck.
Kracl says no autopsy was performed because there’s no evidence any law was violated. She says the boy’s mother “acted appropriately the entire time.”
Schuyler is about 60 miles (95 kilometers) northwest of Omaha.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The death of a colleague’s son has spurred lawmakers in the often anti-regulation Kansas to toughen the state’s inspection requirements for amusement parks.
Republican Gov. Sam Brownback signed legislation on Monday that strengthens amusement park regulations. The bill passed the House and Senate by wide margins.
The change comes after Republican Rep. Scott Schwab’s 10-year-old son, Caleb, died last summer on a waterslide at Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas.
An investigation into the death is ongoing, but the waterslide, which was dubbed the world’s highest when it opened, has been closed since the accident.
The Schwab family has settled with the park’s owner, the manufacturer of the raft that carried riders down the slide, a general contractor and a consulting company.
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — Federal officials in South Dakota say 15 people have been indicted for illegally trafficking eagles and other migratory birds after a two-year undercover operation.
U.S. Attorney Randy Seiler said Monday that officials expect “significant” additional federal charges in the case.
Seiler says the investigation focused on trafficking of eagles and eagle parts such as feathers for profit. Authorities say the case likely involves hundreds of birds including more than 100 eagles.
Seiler described one operation as a “chop-shop for eagles.” Informants allegedly purchased bird parts such as eagle wings. Those accused include people from Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming.
