CHEYENNE COUNTY — Crews were busy fighting grass fires Saturday in Cheyenne County that prompted Governor Laura Kelley to issue a verbal disaster declaration.

The first grass fires were reported just after 11:30 a.m., according to Ryan Murry, Cheyenne County Emergency Management Director.

They ultimately had to battle several grass fires across the county. Just after 5 p.m., Murray said the fires were contained. Crews continued to monitor hot spots and the Kansas Forrest Service continued to drop water on those hot spots.

Burn scar from a long-lived fire between St. Francis and Wheeler in Cheyenne county, KS on Saturday November 09, 2019. Burn scar is ~4 miles long and ~2 miles wide. #KSwx #NEwx #COwx pic.twitter.com/5OqRQ2VaDF

— NWS Goodland (@NWSGoodland) November 9, 2019

There is no word on the number of acres burned. The fires may have started by a semi driving by on the highway with a mechanical issue, according to Murry. The cause of the fires is still under investigation.

@GovLauraKelly issued a verbal disaster declaration for Cheyenne County due to grass fires which were sparked along US-36 by the City of Saint Francis. Local officials have evacuated several homes and residents have been alerted for the potential of evacuation if the need arises. pic.twitter.com/TMeKM04L3p

— KDEM (@KansasEmergency) November 10, 2019

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — A former Lawrence police officer convicted of threatening another driver with a gun on a suburban Kansas City highway in a case of road rage has lost his peace officer’s license.

The license for 53-year-old Jeffrey Brian Holtzman was revoked last month.

Holtzman was sentenced in August to 12 months’ probation for the October 2018 incident. He pleaded guilty in June to a reduced charge of criminal threat.

The victim told police that he was driving on Interstate 435 near Interstate 35 when he honked at Holtzman for suddenly slowing down. The victim says Holtzman then pulled alongside him and pointed a handgun at him and his passenger.

Holtzman resigned from the Lawrence Police Department the following month.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — One person died in an accident just before midnight Friday in Sedgwick County.

A Buick LeSabre driven by a 59-year-old man was eastbound on East Mt. Vernon at Bluff, according to office Kevin Wheeler. The vehicle left the road and struck a utility pole.

The  driver was trapped in the vehicle and had to be extricated by the Wichita Fire Department. He was pronounced dead at the scene. There were no other occupants in the vehicle, and no other vehicles were involved in the collision, according to Wheeler. The accident remains under investigation. Wheeler did not release the driver’s name.

 

SEDGWICK COUNTY —Minimum-custody inmate Kyle Ingels who was placed on escape status at  Tuesday evening after he walked away from the Wichita Work Release Facility is back in custody, according Randall Bowman with the Kansas Department of Corrections. The KDOC Enforcement, Apprehensions and Investigation unit located him at 11 a.m. Saturday.

On Friday, the Kansas Department of Corrections offered a reward to help locate Ingels. 

Ingels is currently serving a 60-month sentence for several convictions in Neosho County including theft, forgery, drug possession, and endangerment of a child. Engels had a prior drug conviction from Neosho County in 2007.

The KDOC has not released further details on his capture.

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SEDGWICK COUNTY —Minimum-custody inmate Kyle Ingels was placed on escape status at approximately 6:48 p.m., Tuesday, after he walked away from the Wichita Work Release Facility, according to a media release from the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Ingels, a 32-year-old white male, left for work at 10:30 a.m. and was reported missing when he did not report back to the facility following work Tuesday evening. Ingels was last seen wearing a red hoodie with black writing on the sleeves, blue jeans, black boots, and a black baseball cap.

Ingels is currently serving a 60-month sentence for several convictions in Neosho County including theft, forgery, drug possession, and endangerment of a child. Engels had a prior drug conviction from Neosho County in 2007.

Ingels is 6 feet tall, 198 pounds with hazel eyes and brown hair.

Anyone with information on Ingels can call the Kansas Department of Corrections at 620-221-6660, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at (800) 572-7463 or local law enforcement at 911.

The walk-away is currently being investigated. New information will be released as it becomes available.

The Wichita Work Release Facility, a satellite unit of the Winfield Correctional Facility, is an all-male, minimum-custody state prison with a population of 250.

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials reported a breakthrough Friday in their investigation into the cause of a mysterious outbreak of vaping illnesses.

A government lab found the same chemical compound in fluid taken from the lungs of 29 patients across the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced.

The compound — vitamin E acetate — was previously found in liquid from electronic cigarettes and other vaping devices used by many of those who got sick.

Officials said this is the first time they’ve found a common suspect in the damaged lungs of patients.

“We are in a better place in terms of having one very strong culprit,” said the CDC’s Dr. Anne Schuchat.

But agency officials cautioned they cannot rule out all other toxic substances, and it may take animal studies to clearly show vitamin E acetate causes the lung damage that’s been seen.

More than 2,000 Americans who use vape have gotten sick since March, many of them teen and young adults, and at least 40 people have died.

Vitamin E acetate has recently been used as a thickener in vaping fluid, particularly in black market vape cartridges. While vitamin E is safe as a vitamin pill or to use on the skin, inhaling oily droplets can be harmful.

Many who got sick said they had vaped liquids that contain THC, the high-inducing ingredient in marijuana, with many saying they got them from friends or bought them on the black market.

About two months ago, New York drew attention to vitamin E acetate when the state’s public health lab discovered it in samples of vaping products from sick patients. In some instances, it made up more than half of the liquid in the cartridges.

The chemical has shown up in tests in other labs, too, including a U.S. Food and Drug Administration lab in Cincinnati.

For the latest test, the CDC used fluid extracted from the lungs of 29 patients in 10 states. They looked for a range of substances that had been found in various vaping devices, including nicotine, THC and other marijuana components, plant oils, mineral oil and cutting agents used on the black market.

The one substance that came up in all 29 patients was vitamin E acetate.

“To me what’s important here is both what they found, and what they didn’t find” said Scott Becker, head of the Association of Public Health Laboratories. “This was the only thing they found.”

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SILVER LAKE, Kan. (AP) — A northeast Kansas man has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his 4-year-old granddaughter.

Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay announced Thursday that 56-year-old Timothy Wayne Funk Sr., of Silver Lake, was charged in the July death of Brandy Funk. He is also charged with two counts of aggravated endangering a child.

Brandy, of Beatrice, Nebraska, died July 23 at a Silver Lake home.

Authorities did not release any further information Thursday.

Funk remains jailed in Shawnee County Jail Thursday afternoon on $500,000 bond.

Funk was discharged from state prison in August 2012 after serving time for driving under the influence, fourth or subsequent offense in June 2008.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Investigators say loss of control resulted in the 2017 crash that killed a Topeka physician.

The National Transportation Safety Board posted on its website that investigators had found “no mechanical anomalies.”

Topeka pulmonary physician William M. Leeds and his flight instructor, James K. Bergman, were killed in July 2017 at Topeka’s Philip Billard Municipal Airport.

The NTSB determined the accident’s probable cause to be “the failure of the pilot and flight instructor to maintain aircraft control while maneuvering in the traffic pattern.”

It reached no conclusions as to why control of the 1965 Piper PA-30 fixed wing, multi-engine was lost.

TOPEKA — A Kansas felon identified by the Kansas Highway Patrol as Brandon K. Jordan, 48, Topeka, driving a 2003 Acura TL linked to a bad-check cashing case caused a deadly crash while trying to get away from a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper Thursday afternoon.

The chase westbound on Holly Lane lasted only a couple seconds just, according to the KHP.
Jordan ran a stop sign and crashed into a 2016 Ford Explorer driven by Dennis E. Affolter, 69, Topeka. EMS transported Affolter to Stormont Vail where he died.

Jordan is felon with 19 convictions that include forgery, burglary, theft, obstruction and for drugs, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections. He will be booked into jail on new charges when he is released from the hospital.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities say a man driving a car linked to a bad-check cashing case has caused a deadly Topeka crash while trying to get away from a Kansas Highway Patrol trooper.

Patrol Lt. Adam Winters says the chase lasted only a couple seconds Thursday before the fleeing driver ran a stop sign and crashed into a sport utility vehicle in the western part of the city.

The SUV’s driver was rushed to a hospital and later died. The driver’s name wasn’t immediately released.

The patrol says the driver of the fleeing car will be booked into jail when he is released from the hospital. A passenger in the fleeing motorist’s car also was injured. Neither of their injuries were believed to be life-threatening.  Late Friday morning, the KHP had not released names of those involved in the crash.

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SHAWNEE COUNTY— Law enforcement authorities are investigating a fatal crash that occurred just before 12:30p.m. Thursday during a high-speed chase in Shawnee County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a vehicle was westbound on Holly Lane traveling at a high rate of speed fleeing from law enforcement.

The driver failed to stop at McAlister Avenue and struck a vehicle which was southbound on McAllister.

Authorities have not released names of the individual involved in the accident.

CUSTER COUNTY, NE —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on numerous charges after a traffic stop.

Just after 5p.m. Wednesday, a trooper observed a Saab sedan speeding near the intersection of Victoria Springs Road and Drive 443, approximately 10 miles west of Sargent, Nebraska, according to a media release.

During the traffic stop, a K9 from the Custer Count Sheriff’s Office detected the presence of a controlled substance in the vehicle.

The trooper searched the vehicle and found hundreds of containers of THC products, along with four pounds of marijuana. The search revealed 386 containers of THC wax, 144 packages of THC shatter, 62 THC vape cartridges, and 39 containers of THC edibles and liquid products.

Troopers arrested the driver, Anthony Kolbe, 30, of Sleepy Eye, Minnesota, on requested charges of possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana – more than one pound, possession with intent to distribute, and possession of drug paraphernalia. Kolbe is being held in Custer County Jail.

MANHATTAN, KAN. – Law enforcement authorities are investigating a shooting in Manhattan that sent one man to the hospital

Just before 2:15p.m. Friday, the Riley County Police Department Emergency Dispatch Center received multiple 911 calls from citizens reporting hearing the sound of gunshots in the 1400 block of Hartman Place in Manhattan.

Officers quickly responded and found one male victim suffering from what appears to be a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.

Officers were still on scene. Police have not reported an arrest.

If you have any information on this crime, please contact the Riley County Police Department at (785) 537-2112 or Crime Stoppers at (785) 539-7777. Using the Crime Stoppers service allows you to remain anonymous and could qualify you for a cash reward up to $1,000.00.