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Woman Hurt in Fall from Third-Floor Omaha Apartment

ambulanceOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 20-year-old woman has been hospitalized in critical condition after falling from a third-floor window at an apartment in north-central Omaha.

Authorities say the incident occurred around 2 a.m. Wednesday.

Police say Courtney Reiser was at a party and was intoxicated when she decided to leave. Investigators say another person at the party told Reiser not to leave and instead go to sleep in one of the bedrooms.

The other person checked on Reiser about 10 minutes later and discovered that she’d fallen from the bedroom window.

Authorities do not suspect a crime was involved.

Sentencing Set for Nebraskan in Child Sex Assault Case

richard-strengerWAHOO, Neb. (AP) — A January sentencing is scheduled for a Cedar Bluffs man who made a plea deal and was convicted in a child sexual assault case.

Saunders County court records say Richard Strenger was convicted of sexual assault of a child, first offense; attempted sexual assault of a child; and felony possession of a controlled substance. Prosecutors dropped five other counts in exchange for Strenger’s no-contest pleas.

Investigators say a child was sexually assaulted at Strenger’s home on several different occasions.

The 50-year-old Strenger is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 27.

Oklahoma Man to Face Nebraska Sex Assault Charges

dark_handcuffsFAIRBURY, Neb. (AP) — A man has returned from Texas to face sex assault and other charges in southeast Nebraska’s Jefferson County.

Authorities say 38-year-old Tracy Rose waived extradition after being arrested last week in Hutchinson County, Texas, on a Nebraska warrant. His home address is listed as Balko, Okla.

On Tuesday a Nebraska judge set Rose’s bail at $500,000. He remains in custody. Court records don’t list the name of his attorney.

Nebraska authorities say a woman told deputies that Rose had been at her home in Carleton on Nov. 24 to remove some of his belongings. They and their 4-year-old son got in Rose’s vehicle to drive to Fairbury. She reported that Rose stopped the vehicle near a highway junction and sexually assaulted her and choked her in front of the boy.

Fire West of Lincoln Destroys Restored Cars

Lincoln Fire DptLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A fire in a metal outbuilding just west of Lincoln has destroyed three cars that had been lovingly restored.

Neighbors saw the smoke and flames and called 911 around 6:45 p.m. Tuesday. The property owners, Norman and Laurie Chrastil, had been in Lincoln for dinner and returned home to find firetrucks.

They lost a rebuilt 1946 Ford sedan, a 1972 Camaro and a 1976 Camaro to the flames. Other vehicles destroyed included motorcycles, boats and four-wheelers.

No injuries have been reported.

The fire cause is being investigated.

Nikko Jenkins Found Competent to Stand Trial

Nikko Jenkins
Nikko Jenkins

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A psychiatrist working for prosecutors says a former prison inmate charged with killing four people in Omaha is competent to stand trial.

That new evaluation of 27-year-old Nikko Jenkins contradicts an earlier report from a defense psychiatrist. A judge will make the final decision.

Jenkins has been charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Juan Uribe-Pena, Jorge Cajiga-Ruiz, Curtis Bradford and Andrea Kruger. The four were killed within weeks of Jenkins’ release from prison on July 30.

Jenkins first pleaded not guilty but he has recently tried to change it to guilty. A judge said he wouldn’t accept the plea until Jenkins had been checked by state psychiatric experts.

Police say Jenkins is also being investigated for a separate shooting. Details of that case have not been released.

Nebraska Teenager Dies After Rollover Crash

fatal-accidentOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A hospital says an 18-year-old girl who was critically injured after a car crash in eastern Nebraska has died.

Alegent Creighton Health says Hope Walker died Tuesday at Alegent Creighton University Medical Center. Officials say she had been placed in a medically induced coma after her truck rolled over in a crash near West Point on Dec. 23.

Hope was ejected through the windshield. She was taken to the medical center and underwent brain surgery.

Hope’s family says the girl was an organ donor. A fund has been set up at Wells Fargo Bank to help the girl’s family, whose home was destroyed by a fire on Christmas Eve. Hope’s father also lost his job days before the crash.

NSP Nabs 95 Pounds of Pot in SE Neb. Traffic Stop

state-patrol-logoA traffic stop on a motorhome on Interstate 80 in southeast Nebraska led to the seizure of nearly 95 pounds of marijuana.

Just before noon on Monday, Dec. 30, a trooper made a traffic stop on an eastbound motorhome on I-80 just west of the Seward exit.  A Nebraska State Patrol canine alerted to the odor of drugs coming from the recreational vehicle and a subsequent search led to the seizure of 94.7 pounds of marijuana.

The marijuana, contained in 43 bundles, was located in an empty water tank beneath the bathroom floor of the motorhome.

The driver of the motorhome, Melvin Tabor, 26, of Hayward, Calif., and two passengers, Briseida Mendez-Velazquez, 32, of Puyallup, Wash., and Julio Morales-Mayorga, 27, of Union City, Calif., were lodged in the Seward County Jail, each on a charge of Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Deliver.

Former Neb. AG Office Worker Gets Probation in Pot Case

Kimberly Meidell
Kimberly Meidell

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A former worker in the Nebraska attorney general’s office has been given probation in a marijuana case.

Thirty-nine-year-old Kimberly Meidell was a litigation assistant in the office. She was arrested in May after officers found marijuana plants and marijuana at the Lincoln home she shared with 34-year-old Eric Trost.

Online court records say both pleaded no contest to reduced charges after making deals with prosecutors. Meidell was given 30 months of probation earlier this month; Trost got 36 months. Both were given six-month jail sentences that can be waived if they follow the terms of their probation orders.

Man Accused of 4 Omaha Slayings Has Jail Trouble

Dr. Anthony Garcia
Dr. Anthony Garcia

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Indiana man accused of killing four people with ties to an Omaha medical school has been charged with assaulting jail guards as he awaits his Nebraska trial.

A Douglas County Sheriff’s Office report says 40-year-old Anthony Garcia kicked one guard and punched another in an incident Friday. Garcia had been told to return to his cell. He objected, saying he needed more time to place a phone call to his attorneys.

Garcia, of Terre Haute, Ind., has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the 2008 slayings of the 11-year-old son of Creighton University pathologist William Hunter and the family’s housekeeper, as well as the May deaths of Creighton pathologist Roger Brumback and his wife.

Brumback and Hunter had fired Garcia.

Columbus Couple Claims $1M in Mega Millions

mega-millionsCOLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — Two Columbus residents have come forward to claim their $1 million prize from the Dec. 17 Mega Millions drawing.

Nebraska Lottery officials say JoAnn Cooke bought the ticket at the Corner Stop convenience store on 23rd Street in Columbus. The ticket numbers matched all five white ball numbers but missed the Mega Ball number of 7 that would have meant a share of the Mega Millions jackpot.

Joann and her husband, Allen Cooke, say they have no immediate plans for their prize.

Two tickets sold in California and Georgia matched all six numbers to split the $636 million jackpot, the second-largest lottery prize in U.S. history.

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