SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for alleged theft.
On Tuesday, a 46-year-old man reported to police he purchased tickets electronically for a Wichita State basketball game and the tickets were fake, according to a social media report from police.

Investigators began working on the case to identify the suspect. A citizen also contacted Wichita Police Sgt. Nikki Woodrow who also had purchased tickets electronically for a WSU Basketball game which were fraudulent.

Sgt. Woodrow, citizens and investigators all began working together and it led to the arrest of 33-year-old Derek S. Devlin for petit theft, possession of drugs, and warrants. He has previous convictions for robbery, theft and criminal damage to property.

GIRARD, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are investigating the death of a man whose body was found under a rural southeast Kansas bridge.

The Joplin Globe reports that 62-year-old Robert Boyer was discovered Wednesday in shallow water in rural Girard. The Crawford County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release that his pickup truck hit a barbed wire fence before coming to a stop straddling the edge of a narrow concrete bridge.

The driver’s side door was open. Investigators believe Boyer fell from the vehicle, not realizing there was a six-foot drop and tumbled to the bottom of the creek on the bridge’s south side.

Deputies believe Boyer was able to crawl up an embankment and maneuver to the truck’s passenger side before falling into the creek again from the opposite side of the bridge.

OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A homeless man who told police he dismembered his wife in a Missouri hotel room then slept in a Kansas storage unit with her remains and their two children is headed to a mental hospital for treatment.

A Kansas judge on Thursday found Justin Rey not competent to stand trial and ordered the treatment.

Rey is charged in Kansas and Missouri with child endangerment. He’s also charged with abandonment of corpse in Missouri. He isn’t charged in his wife’s killing.

Investigators say Rey took photographs of himself with his wife’s body before dismembering her and taking her remains to the storage unit in Lenexa, Kansas. Rey said she died during childbirth and that she killed herself.

He’s also charged in the death of a California man whose body hasn’t been found.

HARPER COUNTY — A third earthquake in two days shook Kansas on Friday. The quake just after 3:30a.m. measured a magnitude 2.9 and was centered 21 miles northeast of Anthony, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

On Thursday, a pair of earthquakes shook the same area. At 10:29a.m., a quake measuring a magnitude 2.9 was reported approximately 21 miles northeast of Anthony.

The second quake at 10:35 a.m. also measured 2.9 and was centered in the same general area approximately 20 miles
There are no reports of damage or injury from Thursday’s quakes.

JEFFERSON COUNTY —Two people were injured in an accident just after 3p.m. Thursday in Jefferson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1995 Subaru Legacy driven by Brian Eugene Bennett, 24, Topeka, was westbound on U.S. 24 two miles east of the U.S. 59 Junction.

The vehicle crossed the center line and struck an eastbound 2002 Kia Rio driven by Cadence Elijah Nunez-Ruckman, 21, Lawrence, head-on.

Passengers in the Kia Mariah Young, 20, and Niya Ruckman, 2-months, were transported to Stormont Vail.

Bennett and Nunez-Ruckman were not injured. All were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A former Coffey County deputy has pleaded no contest to multiple child sex charges.

Matthew Vander Linden entered the plea Thursday. He was charged with two counts each of aggravated indecent liberties with a child and criminal sodomy.

As part of the plea deal, a charge of unlawful sexual relations was dropped.

Prosecutors say Vander Linden had sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old in November 2016. He was arrested and was fired in December 2016.

Sentencing is scheduled Feb. 1.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Pizza Hut is offering a $10,000 reward for information in the death of one of their drivers last month in Wichita.

The company announced the reward Thursday, seeking tips in the Nov. 26 killing of Hasan Rahman. His body was found in the trunk of his car in east Wichita. Police say he was shot to death.

Rahman delivered Pizza Hut orders the previous night but didn’t return to the restaurant.

Investigators say they currently have few clues or leads in his death.

Crime Stoppers has also offered a $2,500 reward in the case.

Rahman moved to the United States from Bangladesh seven years ago and married three years ago.

WAKEENEY – On December 14, 2017, Terry Eberle, of WaKeeney, Trego County, Kansas, the former WaKeeney, Chief of Police, was charged by the Trego County Attorney’s Office with two (2) counts of Perjury and eight (8) counts of Making False Information (all felonies), according to Trego Co. Attorney Chris Lyon.

These charges stem from an ongoing investigation by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. These charges are in addition to, and not in place of, the previous charges in Trego County Case 17CR-45.

In Trego County Case 17CR-45, Eberle is charged with Blackmail (felony), Making False Information (felony), Theft (felony and misdemeanor), Attempted Official Misconduct (felony), Intimidation of a Witness (misdemeanor), Harassment by Telephone (misdemeanor), Tampering with a Public Record (misdemeanor), and Attempted Interference with Law Enforcement (misdemeanor).

Please keep in mind that the arrest and charging of an individual is merely an allegation of criminal wrongdoing. All defendants maintain a presumption of innocence unless or until proven guilty in court of law.

TOPEKA, KAN. – Two Kansas men were indicted Wednesday on charges of robbing a health club where one of them used to work, according to U.S. Attorney Tom Beall.

Lesley Jamar Terrell, Jr., 33, Topeka, Kan., and George Bernard Phelps, III, 31, Topeka, Kan., are charged with one count of robbery. The indictment alleges that on Nov. 24, 2017, the two defendants robbed the Genesis Health Club at 2909 Southwest 37th Street in Topeka.

A criminal complaint in the case alleges that a Genesis employee came upon the two defendants in the lobby of the business while they attempted to pry open a box used for money deposits by members of the club. One of the defendants told the employee the robbers did not want trouble and instructed him to wait in an adjacent room. The defendant stood in the doorway of the room with his hand in the waistband of his pants. The defendants removed cash and checks from the box and then fled.

When police arrived, the employee told them one of the robbers resembled a former employee of the business. Investigators identified Terrell as a prior employee of the business who worked as an overnight maintenance worker.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the Republican tax overhaul (all times local):

The IRS says taxpayers could begin seeing less money withheld from their paychecks “as early as February” if Congress passes a Republican tax overhaul plan this month.

The agency says in a statement released Wednesday night that it “is continuing to closely monitor the pending legislation in Congress,” and “taking the initial steps to prepare guidance on withholding for 2018.”

The IRS says it expects to issue new withholding guidance in January reflecting the new legislation.

The bill would provide generous tax cuts for corporations and the wealthiest Americans. Middle- and low-income families would get smaller tax cuts, though President Donald Trump and GOP leaders have billed the package as a huge benefit for the middle class.

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Congressional aides say negotiators have removed several controversial provisions from sweeping tax legislation, including one that would have eliminated the deduction for interest on student loans and another deduction for medical expenses.

Two congressional aides also say the bill will no longer start taxing graduate-school tuition waivers. The aides spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss private negotiations.

GOP leaders in the House and Senate have reached an agreement in principle on the biggest rewrite of the nation’s tax laws in more than 30 years, though the legislation is still being finalized Wednesday.

Advocacy groups have complained about the provisions that were removed, especially with college graduates face mounting debt from student loans.

— Stephen Ohlemacher