Law enforcement authorities on the scene of Friday’s arrest-photo courtesy KAKE
SEDGWICK COUNTY -Law enforcement authorities in Sedgwick County are investigating a suspect on kidnapping charges.
On Friday, the Kansas Turnpike Authority (KTA) receive a call from authorities in St. Louis, Missouri about the possible abduction of a 16-year-old girl, according to a media release.
KTA tracked the suspect vehicle to an address in south Wichita and arrested a suspect 39-year-old Johnny Vallejo.
The 16-year-old was found and was safe.
Vallejo was booked into the Sedgwick County Jail for rape, kidnapping and aggravated human trafficking, according to police.
Airplane mishap in Riley County on Saturday-photo KHP
RILEY COUNTY – Authorities in Riley County are investigating an airplane accident.
Just before 11am on Saturday, The Kansas Highway Patrol and additional first responders were dispatched south of Manhattan airport for plane emergency landing, according to the KHP.
No injuries were reported.
Check Hays Post for additional details as they become available.
STAFFORD COUNTY – A Kansas woman was injured in an accident just after 11 a.m. on Saturday in Stafford County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2001 Ford passenger truck driven by Sandra Patricia Gonzalez, 38, Great Bend, was southbound on NW 50th Avenue five miles north of St. John.
The truck came to a curve and left the roadway to the right.
The driver swerved and the truck rolled into the ditch.
Gonzalez was transported to for treatment in Great Bend.
She was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
Search crews search for victims on Saturday-photo courtesy KAKE
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Rescuers using boats, a helicopter and wading boots were searching for a 62-year-old Wichita man whose pickup truck was swept away by floodwaters.
The National Weather Service told The Wichita Eagle that rainfall rates of up to 4 inches per hour Friday night caused widespread flooding in Sedgwick and Butler counties.
Butler County Sheriff Kelly Herzet says Richard Lowery and his son were in their truck when they drove into water on the road and tried to back out around 10 p.m. Herzet says the son got his window down as the vehicle was filling with water and was sucked out.
Herzet says the son walked out of a bean field around 7 a.m. and was taken to a hospital. The search for Richard Lowery continued Saturday afternoon.
Search crews on Perry Lake-photo KDWP&T Game Wardens
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities have recovered the body of a Topeka man thought to have drowned while sailboating alone on an eastern Kansas lake.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the body of 46-year-old Jeff Miller was found at 7:15 a.m. Saturday at the northeast part of Lake Perry, west of Longview Park.
Jefferson County Sheriff Jeff Herrig says the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism was called around 5:45 p.m. Friday to search for Miller, who was last seen around 3:30 p.m. on his 26-foot sailboat.
The department and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers search until about midnight, then resumed the search at 6:30 a.m. Saturday.
Herrig says his department was working with the Wildlife Department to investigate the death.
Rocky Nichols, executive director of the Disability Rights Center CREDIT FILE PHOTO
By MEGAN HART
The waiting list for Medicaid services for Kansans with physical disabilities has dropped by more than 1,700 since last year but hasn’t budged for those with intellectual or developmental disabilities.
In July, 3,450 Kansans with intellectual or developmental disabilities were waiting for home and community-based services provided through Medicaid, as were 10 Kansans with physical disabilities.
The drop in the number of Kansans with physical disabilities waiting for services was substantial. In July 2015, 1,721 Kansans had been waiting for those services. The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services said earlier this month that it had cleared that waiting list.
The number of Kansans waiting for services for intellectual and developmental disabilities was essentially unchanged from 3,449 in July 2015, however.
Angela de Rocha, a spokeswoman for KDADS, said it took longer to “clean up” the waiting list for Kansans with developmental disabilities and remove people who weren’t eligible to receive services. The department initially focused on offering services or removing people from the physical disability waiting list but now has turned its attention to the developmental disability waiting list, she said.
His administration has spent about $65 million since 2013 to reduce the Medicaid waiting list, de Rocha said. She estimated KDADS offered services to about 150 Kansans with intellectual or developmental disabilities in July.
“Now that we have the (physical disability) waiver wait list essentially eliminated, we can start moving people off the (intellectual or developmental disability) waiver wait list,” she said in an email.
The waivers provide Medicaid coverage for home and community-based support services that allow Kansans with disabilities to remain at home rather than live in institutions. The services are split into seven groups based on type of disability: developmental, physical, frail elderly, autism, traumatic brain injury, technology assisted and serious emotional disturbance.
No one was waiting for services provided in the other five waiver programs in July 2015 or 2016.
A list of Kansans on the waiting list at the end of each year from 2004 to 2014 showed the physical disabilities waiting list peaked at 7,061 in 2008 and has gradually dropped since.
The waiting list for Kansans with intellectual or developmental disabilities continued to grow during that period, however, hitting 8,769 at the end of 2014.
Rocky Nichols, executive director of the Disability Rights Center of Kansas, said a reduction in the waiting list isn’t always a positive development, however. In some cases, Kansans with physical disabilities were sent letters and dropped from the waiting list if they didn’t receive the letter or didn’t understand that they needed to answer it, he said.
That hasn’t happened to many Kansans with developmental disabilities, Nichols said, because they are more likely to have case managers who can help them navigate the system.
“I think before the state of Kansas spikes the ball and says they’ve scored a touchdown, we need a reality check,” he said.
Megan Hart is a reporter for KHI News Service in Topeka, a partner in the Heartland Health Monitor team. You can reach her on Twitter @meganhartMC
ABILENE, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas police chief has pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of disseminating or requesting criminal history information without a legitimate need.
Bronson Campbell was the Enterprise police chief from May 2013 until May 2014, when his appointment wasn’t renewed. He’s currently the Valley Falls police chief.
The complaint alleges that in 2014 Campbell disseminated criminal history information, or requested such information from the central repository of another criminal justice agency, without a legitimate need.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports he pleaded not guilty Thursday to the misdemeanor during a preliminary hearing in Dickinson County.
Campbell recently sought the Republican nomination for Jefferson County sheriff but lost the August 2 primary.
A Dickinson County judge has denied requests to disclose the affidavit in Campbell’s criminal case.
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 63-year-old Wichita man will be sentenced in October after pleading no contest in the stabbing death of his wife.
Larry Andres pleaded no contest to first-degree premeditated murder in the death of Marilyn Andres last month.
The Wichita Eagle reports that a plea agreement calls for prosecutors to recommend Andres receive parole eligibility on a life sentence after 25 rather than 50 years.
Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett said in court the agreement was made because Larry Andres called 911 not long after stabbing his wife with a kitchen knife at their home and cooperated with police.
Andres entered the plea Thursday and will be sentenced October 4.
SALINE COUNTY – Law enforcement authorities in Saline County are investigating a suspect in connection with burglary.
A Salina homeowner reported that someone entered his garage in the 500 Block of South College sometime between 11 a.m. Tuesday at 4 p.m. Thursday, according to Salina Police Captain Mike Sweeney.
A 2016 Chevy Malibu, set of golf clubs and other items valued
at $27,655 were missing.
Soon after the burglary report was taken, the McPherson Police Department located the stolen Chevy Malibu driven Driving the 27-year-old Darrel Shannon of Salina.
He is an acquaintance of Porter.
Police were able to recover all of the stolen property and Shannon was placed under arrest and booked into the Saline County Jail late Thursday evening on requested charges of burglary and felony theft.
DICKINSON COUNTY – Three people were injured in an accident just before 4 p.m. on Friday in Dickinson County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2010 Nissan Versa driven by Bridgette Marie Warnke, 43, Abilene, was northbound on Kansas 43 one mile south of unincorporated Dickinson County community of Detroit, Kansas.
The vehicle struck a northbound horse drawn trailer
Warnke was transported to Geary County Hospital.
Two pedestrians with the trailer Malachi Leroy Hamilton, 13, and Micah Leroy Hamilton, 15, both of Enterprise, were transported to the hospital in Abilene.
Warnke was properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Police say a 26-year-old man has been charged in a fatal crash outside a Kansas City, Kansas, hospital.
The Kansas City Star reports that Anthony Fields is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of 74-year-old Sotera Sebastian, of Kansas City, Kansas.
The crash happened Monday night when the sport utility vehicle that Fields was driving rear-ended another SUV that was stopped while waiting to turn into Providence Medical Center. Police say Fields ran from the scene but was arrested nearby.
Jail records show he also is charged with aggravated assault, aggravated burglary and leaving the scene of an injury accident. Bond for Fields is set at $250,000. It wasn’t immediately known if he had an attorney.
