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Colorado Army officer drowns at US base at Guantanamo Bay

armyMIAMI (AP) — The U.S. military says an Army warrant officer from Colorado has drowned at the Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

A statement says Chief Warrant Officer Jose Eduardo Lopez Cobena died Thursday. Details about the incident were not immediately released.

The 40-year-old Lopez was based at Fort Carson, Colorado, and was on a 12-month assignment to Guantanamo that began in June. He had a nearly 20-year career in the military and had received many commendations including a Bronze Star. Lopez was originally from New York.

Guantanamo is perched at the edge of the Caribbean sea in southeast Cuba and the water surrounding the base can at times be treacherous. Three Marines drowned in an incident in July 2010.

Arrest made in Omaha shooting that killed 1, hurt 2

omaha-policeOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police have made an arrest in a northeast Omaha shooting that killed one man and injured two others.

Omaha police say a 17-year-old male was booked Thursday on suspicion of three counts of being an accessory to a felony in the March 17 shooting death of 19-year-old Walter Griffin.

Officials say surveillance video shows a car Griffin was riding in leaving a convenience store parking lot when it was blocked by another car. A person is then seen shooting multiple times from the passenger side of the car on the street at Griffin’s car.

Griffin was pronounced dead at the scene. Another man and woman in Griffin’s car were injured and taken to a hospital.

Police: Lincoln man accused of raping teenage girl charged

Tanner Book
Tanner Book

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln man accused of raping a teenage girl has been arrested and charged.

19-year-old Tanner Book was charged Thursday with first-degree sexual assault of a minor.

Lincoln police say Book sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl he knows inside a home in north Lincoln on March 4. The girl told police she said “no” several times and tried to physically fight off his advances.

The girl’s mother reported the incident March 14.

Book remained Friday in the Lancaster County Jail on $500,000 bond. Online court records do not yet list an attorney for Book.

Former doctor’s Nebraska death penalty hearing postponed

Anthony Garcia
Anthony Garcia

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A death penalty sentencing hearing has been postponed for a former doctor convicted of killing four people connected to an Omaha medical school.

A judge Thursday postponed the hearing after appointing the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy to help represent Anthony Garcia. The commission often represents those convicted in death penalty cases.

The hearing Thursday was to have helped a three-judge sentencing panel determine whether mitigating factors — such as childhood abuse or impaired mental capacity — exist that might spare Garcia the death penalty. A new hearing date was not immediately set.

In October, Garcia was convicted of killing the 11-year-old son and a housekeeper of Creighton University faculty member William Hunter in 2008, and killing pathology doctor Roger Brumback and his wife in 2013.

Prosecutors say Garcia blamed Hunter and Brumback for his 2001 firing from Creighton’s pathology residency program.

Former Nebraska golf course treasurer accused of embezzlement

handcuffsSEWARD, Neb. (AP) — A former treasurer of an eastern Nebraska golf course has been accused of embezzling from it.

Court records say 31-year-old Chaise Vegas is charged with two felony counts of theft. A phone listed for Vegas in Milford is no longer in service. His attorney didn’t immediately return a call Thursday from The Associated Press.

A court affidavit filed by Milford Police Chief Forrest Siebken says Vegas made unauthorized withdrawals totaling nearly $142,000 from two accounts for Thornridge Golf Course in Milford. He took over as treasurer in April 2015. The affidavit says all but around $3,600 has been repaid.

Vegas’ preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 26.

Driver injured when pickup struck train, authorities say

railroad crossingDUNCAN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a driver has been injured in a collision with a train in eastern Nebraska’s Platte County.

The crash occurred around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday at a rural crossing about a mile east of Duncan. The Platte County Sheriff’s Office says 18-year-old Rebecca Tworek, of rural Columbus, was headed south when her pickup truck rammed into the train. The crossing is not equipped with flashing warning lights or crossing arms.

Tworek was taken to Columbus Community Hospital. She was cited for failure to yield at a train crossing.

Lincoln bridge being renamed in honor of slain soldier

soldierLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bridge in Lincoln is being renamed in honor of a National Guard soldier killed in Afghanistan.

The bridge system spanning the Antelope Valley Parkway near the Bob Devaney Sports Center will be called the Staff Sgt. Patrick Hamburger Veterans Memorial Bridge.

Officials say Hamburger died in August 2011 when his helicopter was shot down. He was a CH-47 flight engineer assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion) of the Nebraska Army National Guard. He was a graduate of Lincoln Southeast High School.

A dedication ceremony is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday at the Nebraska National Guard Spirit of 76 building that sits west of the Devaney Sports Center.

Kansas man guilty in shooting death of Lincoln man

Di'Antre Lemmie
Di’Antre Lemmie

SALINA, Kan. (AP) — A 22-year-old Kansas man will be sentenced in June in the killing of a Lincoln, Nebraska, man at a Salina motel.

DiAntre Lemmie was found guilty Wednesday in Saline County of first-degree murder and five other charges in the April 2016 death of 32-year-old Adonis Loudermilk at the Starlite Motel. Lemmie will be sentenced June 19.

Loudermilk’s body was found at the north Salina motel parking lot.

Prosecutors say Loudermilk was shot during a botched robbery committed by Lemmie and a co-defendant, Amber Nicole Craig.

Craig pleaded guilty in February to second-degree murder, aggravated robbery and conspiracy to commit aggravated robbery.

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Lincoln smoke shop owners found guilty of drug conspiracy

jury-boxLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The former owners of two Lincoln smoke shops have been found guilty by a federal jury in a drug conspiracy case.

Mother and son duo Sharon Elder and Allen Peithman, who owned Dirt Cheap and Island Smokes, were found guilty Tuesday of conspiracy to sell misbranded drugs, commit mail fraud, evade financial reporting and receive illicit profits.

The jury acquitted 70-year-old Elder and 38-year-old Peithman on eight of the 14 counts in the indictment, including distributing controlled substances and money laundering.

The jury’s deliberation on forfeiture of businesses and personal assets began Tuesday afternoon and continues Wednesday.

Elder faces up to 46 years in prison and Peithman faces up to 53. Elder says the two plan to appeal the verdict.

Boy pleads guilty to killing brother after dispute over girl

ne-supreme-court-gavelHARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A 16-year-old Pennsylvania boy has pleaded guilty to shooting his 18-year-old brother to death with a shotgun in a dispute that authorities said was over a girl.

Dakota Thornton, of Williamstown, pleaded guilty Wednesday to third-degree murder in the March 2016 slaying of Dominick Thornton.

Authorities said Dakota Thornton, then 15, told investigators the shooting stemmed from his romantic interest in his brother’s girlfriend.

Prosecutors said no plea deal had been reached on a sentence and Thornton’s juvenile criminal record would be a factor.

Defense attorney Wendy Grella said her client’s mental health issues and alleged abuse while in foster care will also be factors. She called the plea “an appropriate resolution for the entire family.”

Thornton was charged as an adult. Sentencing is set for June.

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