KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A Kansas man who was arrested with a rifle used in a homicide was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years in prison on a federal firearms charge, according to U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.

Rudolph George, 35, Kansas City, Kan., was found guilty in a jury trial on one count of unlawful possession of a firearm following a felony conviction. During a trial in May 2017, prosecutors presented evidence that George had outstanding warrants for his arrest when investigators tracked him to a room at the Overland Park Place Hotel at 7000 W. 107th in Overland Park, Kan.

Working with hotel staff, investigators arranged for nearby rooms to be evacuated. George was asked to leave his room so a pest control service could examine it. He was arrested in a hallway outside his room.

George was found to be in possession of an American Tactical 5.56 mm rifle and a knife. The rifle later was tested and confirmed to be the weapon used in a homicide on Sept. 22, 2015, in Kansas City, Mo.

He has previous convictions for Aggravated escape while held for a felony and Flee and Elude Law Enforcement, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A former chief of staff to a Democratic legislative leader says sexual harassment is “rampant” at the Kansas Statehouse and that she was once asked for sex by a lawmaker.

Abbie Hodgson said Wednesday that several female college students working as legislative interns also acted as after-hours designated drivers for intoxicated lawmakers last year.

Hodgson was chief of staff in 2015 and part of 2016 for then-Kansas House Minority Leader Tom Burroughs, of Kansas City, Kansas. She said her experiences and conversations with other women showed her that Kansas legislators face no repercussions for sexual harassment.

She declined to name the lawmakers involved in the incidents.

Burroughs did not immediately reply to a phone message seeking comment. Republican leaders say sexual harassment isn’t tolerated and that allegations of it are investigated.

MONTGOMERY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for alleged criminal threat.

On Monday afternoon, deputies responded to a call for assistance from the City of Cherryvale Police Department after an officer attempted to arrest a Cherryvale man identified as James Pickett on a misdemeanor arrest warrant for Failure to Appear, according to a media release.

After initial contact Pickett barricaded himself inside his residence on West First Street in Cherryvale. Pickett made statements that he would do harm to any law enforcement officer that attempted to arrest him.

Authorities set up a perimeter around the residence and members of the Sheriffs Emergency Response Team (S.E.R.T) cautiously approached the house and made verbal contact with Pickett.

After negotiations with Pickett urging him to surrender peacefully, Pickett exited the residence and was taken into custody without further incident.

Pickett was taken to Montgomery County Jail where Cherryvale Police Department is recommending charges of criminal threat.

“At the end of the day everyone including Mr. Pickett was safe and anytime you can resolve an incident such as this one peacefully it is a success,” said Sheriff Robert Dierks.

On Wednesday, Pickett remained in custody on a $25,000 Bond, according to the sheriff’s department.

 

 

LENEXA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say human remains have been found in a suburban Kansas City storage unit.

Lenexa police said in a news release that the discovery was made Tuesday night as officers were checking on a report that people had been sleeping in one of the units at a U-Haul Moving and Storage facility. The release says police are conducting a “death investigation.”

No information was provided about the cause of death, age or gender of the person found dead. Lenexa Officer Danny Chavez told WDAF-TV that the identification process may “take some time” because of the degree of decomposition.

SALINE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for alleged child sex crimes.

Just before 9:30 Tuesday, police responded to a central-Salina home after taking report of sexual abuse, according to Captain Mike Sweeney.

Police arrested 34-year-old Richard Pulkkinen, of Salina. He is an acquaintance of the family of the preteen female victim, according to Sweeney. A family reported the alleged crime.

Pulkkinen is being held in the Saline County Jail on requested charges of rape, criminal sodomy and aggravated indecent liberties with a child.

SENECA, Kan. (AP) — SKF USA says it plans to close its plant in Seneca during the next 18 months, eliminating 170 jobs in the small town north of Topeka.

The plant is one of the main employers in Seneca, which has a population of about 2,000 people.

SKF USA is owned by Sweden-based SKF Group. The company said Tuesday it is consolidating its industrial seals manufacturing work. The work being done in Seneca will be transferred to a plant in Salt Lake City.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports Mayor Joe Mitchell called the decision a “huge blow” to the city.

Mitchell said he’s hopeful the town will find another manufacturer to replace SKF.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating an alleged suspicious suspect taking photos at a department store.

Just after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, police responded to report of a disturbance at the Target store in the 2700 Block of North Maize Road in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.

A 35-year-old woman told police she was shopping with her 10-year-old daughter when she saw an unknown man taking pictures of them through the clothing racks.

The woman yelled for help and the suspect, described as a white male, fled the store on foot and drove away in a blue, 1980s Cadillac El Dorado.

Police potentially have a suspect identified and are working to determine if a crime was committed, according to Davidson.

BARTON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are asking the public for assistance in locating a wanted suspect.

The Barton County Sheriff’s Office is seeking the public’s assistance in locating 34-year-old Bradley Allen Wicks. He is wanted on warrants from Barton and Reno counties.

He is described as a 6-foot-4 white male, 208 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He is known to frequent the Great Bend and Ellinwood area.

Wicks has eight previous convictions for drugs, theft and burglary charges since 2004, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

If you have information about this person or any other crime, please call Crime Stoppers at 620-792-1300 or 888-305-1300,  remember  we don’t want your name, just your information.

COWLEY COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating report of a registered Kansas sex offender who may have followed a child home from school.

Just before 5p.m., on October 4, a man followed a 10-year-old juvenile home from the bus stop at Fillmore Avenue and B Street to his house a couple of blocks away in Arkansas City, according to police.

The man asked the juvenile if he could come inside of his house. The juvenile said no and locked the door to keep the man outside. The juvenile then took a photograph of the man through the front window.

On Monday officers learned of a man who had family in that area and also matched the description of the suspect. The person who followed the juvenile on 10-04-2017 has since been identified as 34-year-old Dustin Shane Stalder, a Department of Corrections absconder and was last registered as a sex offender in Sedgwick County.

Stalder had an active warrant for his arrest through the Topeka Department of Corrections for a parole violation and officers took him into custody on Tuesday and he is being held in the Sumner County Jail.

He has previous convictions for burglary and forgery, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

 

KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A Kansas woman who owned businesses in the Kansas City area pleaded guilty Tuesday to bank fraud, according to U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.

Brenda Wood, 49, Leavenworth, Kan., pleaded guilty to two counts of bank fraud. In her plea, she admitted she made false statements to Farmers Bank in Great Bend.

She told the bank that her company, Professional Cleaning and Innovative Building Services (PCI), had received a contract to provide cleaning services at an Internal Revenue Service building in Kansas City, Mo. In fact, the company did not receive the contract and did not even make the final round of bids. As a result, the bank extended a $350,000 line of credit. Wood submitted draw requests to the bank, falsely stating that the funds were needed to fulfill the contract.

In another incident, Wood created a check kiting scheme to artificially inflate her bank account balances. She exchanged and cross-deposited more than 473 insufficient fund checks between her accounts at Capital Federal Savings, Intrust Bank and the Credit Union of Leavenworth County.

Sentencing is set for Jan. 17. Both parties have agreed to recommend a sentence of 78 months in federal prison and restitution of at least $4.6 million.

Beall commended the Department of Labor, Office of Inspector General, the Special Investigator General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, the Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration, the FBI and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jabari Wamble for their work on the case.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas man has pleaded guilty in the July 4, 2016 death of a pedestrian.

Jason Patterson of Topeka entered the plea Tuesday to involuntary manslaughter and driving under the influence.

Patterson was charged in the death of 60-year-old Tara French. She was hit by a truck on the west side of Lake Shawnee.

Police determined Patterson had a blood alcohol level of 0.18 percent when he was stopped after the accident. The legal limit in Kansas is 0.08 percent.

Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 19.

 

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — The parents of a Leavenworth County teenager who has been missing since 1988 are going to court in an effort get criminal investigative records on their son’s case.

Harold and Alberta Leach of Linwood are suing Leavenworth County after county officials rejected a Kansas Open Records Act request for the criminal documents.

The couple’s 17-year-old son, Randy Leach, disappeared in April 1988 after a high school graduation celebration in rural Leavenworth County. Investigators found no trace of him and no one was been charged in the case.

The couple’s attorney, Maxwell Kautsch, says the law enforcement records would show whether Leavenworth County properly investigated the disappearance.

The trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 21.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports the county’s attorney, David Van Parys, declined to comment.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Democratic candidate for Kansas governor whose 3-year-old grandson’s body was found encased in concrete has joined the push to reform the state’s child welfare agency.

Former Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer says his family filed multiple requests with the Kansas Department of Children and Families to check on his grandson, Evan Brewer, before the toddler’s remains were found last month. Brewer says he decided to remain in the race after hearing from other families and determining nothing would change “unless somebody steps in.”

Kansas House Minority Leader Jim Ward, of Wichita, called months ago for the resignation of the agency’s chief, Phyllis Gilmore, and former state Rep. Mark Hutton, a GOP candidate, did so recently. The agency didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.