PHILLIPS COUNTY — One person died in an accident just before 10:30p.m. Tuesday in Phillips County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2004 Dodge Ram 1500 driven by Robert D. Speth, 49, Logan, was westbound on Kansas 9 highway four miles east of Logan.

The driver slammed on the brakes. The pickup hit the bridge, entered the north ditch and rolled.

Speth was transported to Phillip’s County Hospital where he died. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the KHP.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback says he’ll deliver budget and school funding proposals next week and won’t resign before he’s confirmed by the U.S. Senate to an ambassador’s post.

Brownback said during an Associated Press interview Tuesday that he’ll give the annual State of the State address Jan. 9.

He also said the budget and school funding proposals will be his, though Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer had more input than usual.

President Donald Trump nominated Brownback in July for U.S. ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom. The Senate didn’t vote on his nomination by the end of the year, but Brownback said he expects his appointment to be resubmitted.

Colyer’s influence on budget matters and his appointment of a Cabinet secretary in November prompted questions about whether Brownback had ceded some power.

EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) – A 35-year-old man who allegedly led Kansas officers on a chase with his 5-year-old daughter in the car is accused of attacking three sheriff’s deputies.

Robert Robison III, of Ferguson, Missouri, was arrested Friday in Greenwood County. Sheriff Heath Samuels says officers weren’t aware the child was in the car when the chase began after they determined Robison’s car was sought in a hit-and-run in Missouri. The chase ended when the car crashed south of Severy. The girl was not injured.

The Emporia Gazette reports while Robison was being held Friday night in the Lyon County jail, he allegedly attacked three detention officers in his cell. They weren’t seriously injured.

Robison is facing eight charges in Greenwood County. The Lyon County Attorney’s Office will determine if charges will be filed in that case.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The family of a Kansas man fatally shot at the door of his home after a hoax emergency call wants the police officer who killed him criminally charged for his death, their attorney said Tuesday.

Police have said 28-year-old Andrew Finch was shot after a prankster called 911 last Thursday with a fake story about a shooting and kidnapping at Finch’s Wichita home. They said the hoax call was a case of “swatting,” in which a person makes up a false report to get a SWAT team to descend on an address.

Finch’s mother, Lisa Finch, wrote a letter Tuesday to Mayor Jeff Longwell, police Chief Gordon Ramsay and other city officials saying an unannounced visit from the police chief three days after the shooting did not ease her heart and left questions unanswered.

“It goes without saying that our family is devastated by what has happened,” she wrote. “What cannot go without saying is why Wichita City leadership is compounding our grief and sorrow, by keeping my son from us? Please let me see my son’s lifeless body. I want to hold him and say goodbye. Please immediately return his body to us.”

Her letter also posed numerous questions, including asking when officials will return the front door, a computer, two cellphones, a video game and other items that were seized from the family’s home. The family also wants information on the protocol and training for officers as it relates to “swatting” calls.

Chicago civil rights attorney Andrew M. Stroth, who is representing the family, told The Associated Press in a phone interview Tuesday that what the “swatters” did was inappropriate and tragic. However, he said, the family wants Wichita and its police to be held accountable.

“Justice for the Finch family constitutes criminal charges against the shooting officer and any other liable officers as well as damages against the city of Wichita for the policies and practices of its Police Department,” Stroth said.

But criminologist B. Remy Cross at Webster University in Missouri said criminal charges are highly unlikely.

“It is sort of a fact of the world we live in now that it is very difficult to bring charges against police officers unless there is glaring negligence and misconduct,” Cross said. “While I certainly sympathize with the family — and I think there was probably not the necessary due caution exercised in this incident — I don’t know that they are going to necessarily be very successful in pushing for charges to be brought against the officer.”

Police spokesman Charley Davidson said the department has not received Lisa Finch’s letter and cannot comment on it. He said police have provided all the information they can at this point, and that the investigation remains active.

Police played the 911 call at a news conference last week. The man making the call said his father had been shot in the head. He said he was holding his mother and a sibling at gunpoint. Several officers arrived and surrounded the home, braced for a hostage situation.

Andrew Finch went to the door and SWAT officers told him to put his hands up and move slowly. Deputy Chief Troy Livingston told reporters last week that Finch moved a hand toward the area of his waistband. Livingston said an officer who feared Finch was reaching for a gun fired a single shot.

Finch was unarmed.

Dexerto, an online news service focused on gaming, reported that the series of events began with an online argument over a $1 or $2 wager in a “Call of Duty” game on UMG Gaming, which operates online tournaments including one involving “Call of Duty.”

Police have confirmed that 25-year-old Tyler Barriss is suspected of making the call and was arrested in California, but haven’t offered additional details. He’s in custody in Los Angeles.

Kansas is pursuing extradition of Barriss, a process that can take up to 90 days, according to Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett in a statement emailed Tuesday. Under Kansas law, defendants are provided notice of charges they face at their first court appearance, and the nature of any charge is not public until then.

“A determination of additional charges will be made by prosecutors with this office after a review of the information gathered,” Bennett said.

Barriss could appear in a California court as soon as Wednesday for an extradition hearing.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a series of drive-by shootings and have a possible suspect in custody.

Just before 11p.m. Monday police responded to report of a drive by shooting at a residence in the 2400 Block of West Mosley in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.

An investigation revealed that multiple shots were fired at the residence. A white Chrysler and another dark colored vehicle were scene in the area at the time of the crime.  Officers located bullet marks at the home and also shell casings, according to Davidson.  Two 39-year-old men and a 28-year-old woman were at the residence. There were no injuries reported.

A short time later, police responded to report of a drive by shooting at a home in the 1600 Block of East Crowley, according to Davidson.  A 27-year-old man inside the residence was wounded in the leg and shoulder. He was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. A 39-year-old man suffered a head injury. Four other adults were also in the home. Police discovered multiple bullet holes in the residence and a nearby home. Two adults and 3 children were inside that home at the time of crime. They were not injured, according to Davidson.

At about the same time, officers responded to report of a suspicious individual with a weapon near the intersection of Hydraulic and MacArthur in a grey Chrysler 300 shooting multiple shots in the air. Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Deputies located a stolen Chrysler 300 in the 4300 Block of North Deer Lake Street and a 32-year-old man.  Deputies booked the suspect on outstanding warrants, according to Davidson.  Deputies also located a gun and are working to determine a possible connection with the drive-by shooting.

Anyone with information on these incidents is asked to call Wichita Police.

MCPHERSON COUNTY —Authorities in McPherson County arrested a 29-year-old  Sierra Machnicki, Salina, who escaped custody Monday.

The Sheriff’s Office did not release details on her arrest but said she will eventually be brought back to the Saline County Jail to face charges.

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SALINE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are looking for 29-year-old Salina woman who escaped custody Monday night.

Just before 11p.m. Monday, Saline County deputies stopped Sierra Machnicki in the 200 block of North Fifth for driving without headlights, according to Saline County Undersheriff Brent Melander

She initially gave deputies a fake name.

The deputy recognized Machnicki and a records check confirmed that she had a suspended license. She was put in handcuffs, with her hands behind her back, and placed in the passenger side of a patrol vehicle while a K-9 officer from the Salina Police Department did an exterior air sniff of the vehicle.

Undersheriff Melander said that the suspect was placed in the passenger side of the vehicle because both officers on the call had K-9 units with no back seats.

The K-9 caught the smell of narcotics and a search of the vehicle revealed a personal use amount of marijuana and a syringe used for methamphetamine.

When the officers returned to the patrol vehicle, the door was open and Machnicki was gone, according to undersheriff Melander.

Machnicki is wanted for escape from custody, obstruction, possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia and theft.  Machnicki has a history of arrests in Saline County dating back to 2013 for alleged domestic violence, driving while suspended and marijuana possession, according to Saline County booking reports.

SEDGWICK COUNTY — First responders are on the scene of a grain bin accident south of Wichita. Two workers were reported trapped in a bin at the Gavilon Elevator, 5755 South Hoover Road.

 

WFD assisting @SedgwickCounty with technical rescue team at 5700 blk S Hoover Rd. Two workers trapped in a grain bin. #ictfire #icttraffic

— WichitaFireDept (@WichitaFireDept) January 2, 2018

 

Officials released no additional details late Tuesday afternoon.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Wichita police say an officer is on administrative leave after a 9-year-old girl was injured by fragments from a bullet he shot at a dog.

Officer Paul Cruz said in a news release Tuesday that the incident occurred Saturday when officers were responding to a call of a domestic dispute.

The officer shot at the dog when it charged while officers were looking for a gun. The round broke into fragments and a piece hit the girl in the forehead. She was treated and released from a Wichita hospital.

Cruz says a suicidal man in the home was taken for a mental health exam. A woman and three other children at the scene were not injured.
The District Attorney’s office will review the case.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas reports it collected $75 million more in taxes than expected in December, and state officials say it’s because Congress overhauled federal income tax laws.

The state Department of Revenue said Tuesday that tax collections last month were $711 million when the state had forecast $636 million. The surplus was 11.8 percent.

It was the seventh consecutive month that tax collections exceeded expectations. Since the current fiscal year began, the state has collected almost $84 million more in taxes than anticipated for a 2.7 percent surplus. Tax collections through December were almost $3.2 billion.

Revenue Secretary Sam Williams said some individuals made estimated personal income tax payments earlier than normal in December because of a cap on the federal tax deduction for state and local taxes taking effect next year.

SEDGWICK COUNTY—Law enforcement authorities are investigating a highway robbery

Just after 1p.m. Monday, police responded to report of an aggravated robbery at a home in the 1600 Block of North Emporia in Wichita, according to officer Charley Davidson.

A 19-year-old man told police he was selling a pair of shoes on the OfferUp app.  Two unknown men described as in their 20s or early 30s arrived at the home in a grey Chevy Impala.

During the transaction, one of the suspects pointed a gun at the teen victim. During a struggle, the victim was shot one time in the shoulder, according to Davidson.  The teen was transported to a local hospital for treatment and has been released, according to Davidson.

Investigators have developed two potential suspects in the case. They are working to locate them.

Davidson released no additional details on Tuesday.