WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Wichita man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in a drunken driving crash that killed three people and injured two others.

The Wichita Eagle reports that Juan Pablo Gandara-Rodela was sentenced Wednesday for second-degree reckless murder in the July 2014 deaths.

The hit-and-run crash killed Zachary Taylor and Jake Hallacy, both 26 and of Valley Center, and 21-year-old Emily Phillips of McPherson.

Gandara-Rodela also admitted in January to leaving the scene of an accident and aggravated battery. Police have said Gandara-Rodela had been at a bar before running a red light in a sport utility vehicle and slamming into the side of a car.

Gandara-Rodela was working toward becoming a U.S. citizen. Under his plea, he will be deported after he is released from prison.

STAFFORD COUNTY- A Hutchinson man was injured in an accident just before 8p.m. on Wednesday in Stafford County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1998 Harley Davidson Motorcycle driven by William C Powell, 48, Hutchinson, was westbound on northeast 70th nine miles east of U.S. 281.

A deer entered the roadway from the south ditch, impacted the front of the motorcycle, and knocked the rider off.

The driver and motorcycle slid westbound on the pavement coming to a rest in the north ditch.

EMS transported Powell to the Stafford District Hospital. He was later transported to St. Francis in Wichita.
He was not wearing a helmet, according to the KHP.

HARVEY COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Harvey County are investigating a suspect in connection with a series of burglaries.

Beginning in September 2015 the city of Newton experienced numerous residential and vehicular burglaries, which appeared to be the work of a single serial burglar, according to police. These offenses abruptly stopped in late January of 2016.

During the course of the investigation, the Newton Police Department learned of similar offenses occurring in many jurisdictions in the region.

These agencies partnered, shared information, and have diligently been investigating these crimes since the beginning.

Police reported on Wednesday they are confident the serial burglar has been identified, and an arrest has been made.

During the early morning hours of Tuesday, a man was apprehended during the commission of a similar offense in Derby, according to police.

Rapid sharing of information led investigators to connecting numerous burglaries in the Newton area, Park City, Wichita, and Derby.

Numerous eye witness identifications and video evidence has identified as the suspect as Robert Johnson Jr.
He was paroled after a 20 year prison term, and moved to Newton in August of 2015, before relocating to Wichita.

Police believe Robert was targeting locations randomly, and acted alone while committing these crimes.

One factor, which may have played a role in ending the offenses in Newton, was the community’s response to warnings about securing residences. We believe it was this partnership with the community, which saw an increase in reported suspicious activity, heightened vigilance with regard to locking doors, and checking on neighbors, which made the difference.

KANSAS CITY— The U.S. government won’t appeal recent court rulings that stripped the lesser prairie chicken of federal protection under the Endangered Species Act.

The Fish and Wild Service said Wednesday that the Justice Department filed a motion Tuesday to dismiss its appeal of rulings in Texas. The rulings found that Fish and Wildlife failed to make a proper evaluation of a multi-state conservation plan when it listed the lesser prairie chicken as threatened.

Kansas Senator Pat Roberts  said this wouldn’t be the last of the Obama Administration’s regulatory agenda. “I have said all along that with a little rain, we will see the lesser prairie chicken population bounce back. As we have come to expect with the Obama administration, they never let common sense get in the way of an costly regulation.”

Kansas First District Congressman Tim Huelskamp celebrated the announcement.

“After years of leading the fight against the Fish and Wildlife Service’s rule, starting even before the rule was in place, I am thrilled by this decision,” Huelskamp said. I appreciate the support and help from those in the agriculture industry like the Kansas Farm Bureau, Kansas Natural Resources Conference, members of the energy industry, and members of the Kansas delegation in challenging the Obama Administration attempted takeover.

“Most Washington bureaucrats and attorneys have never farmed, raised livestock or worked an oil rig. They do not understand that state and local governments, and business owners themselves, care about the environment.

Fish and Wildlife says that despite dropping the appeal, it “intends to reassess the status of the species based on the court’s ruling and the best available scientific data.”

Oil and gas groups opposed the threatened listing, saying it would cost companies millions.

The lesser prairie chicken lives in Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Colorado.

The AP contributed to this report.

SHAWNEE COUNTY-Law enforcement authorities in Shawnee County are investigating three suspects in connection with auto thefts.

The city of Topeka has seen a dramatic increase in auto thefts this year with over 200 reported through April, according to a media release.

Topeka Police in conjunction with the Kansas Department of Revenue, Kansas Highway Patrol, National Insurance Crime Bureau, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Police, Topeka Fire, and the Kansas Department of Health conducted a search at Focus Recycling, 131 Southeast Golden Avenue in Topeka involving stolen vehicles.

As a result, authorities arrested Maurice Lamont Stewart, 33; John Earl January III, 38; and David Ray Long, 40; all of Topeka.