HUTCHINSON, Kan. — One of the five teens arrested and accused of making criminal threats against Hutchinson High School has reached a plea agreement in the case.

Dominic Collins was charged with conspiracy to commit murder and criminal  threat. He entered pleas to the second count while the conspiracy to commit murder was dismissed. According to Daniel Gilligan of the District Attorney’s office, Collins had made strides to improve his life including obtaining his GED.

Collins was sentenced to Court services until May of 2016 and time already served. He must also write a letter of apology to Hutchinson USD 308 for his actions. The other four teens arrested in the case, Takota Bowman, Jake Eells, Andre Smith and Tyler Cabral are scheduled to be back in court on Dec. 29th.

The five were arrested after threats surfaced on social media. The five have maintained all along that the texts and emails were a joke. The teens were detained in juvenile detention until after the school year and were released this past summer.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Fire crews responded to the 800 block of East Avenue A around 1:12 p.m. for a structure fire.  

Upon arrival, units found smoke coming from the attic of the residence. The fire was controlled in 15 minutes. Preliminary damage is estimated at $25,000. Damage was sustained to the ceiling and attic area in the front room. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

The residence was occupied by one adult and two children at the time of the fire. No one was injured in the fire.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – Just after 2:30 p.m. Sunday, The Hutchinson Fire Department responded to the 1600 Block of North Harding for a report of a barn that had collapsed and pinned four horses.

One unit, along with a structural collapse team, responded and found a 20’ x 15’ barn that had blown approximately 15 feet off of its foundation, pinning 4 ponies.

Crews used the Jaws of Life to lift the structure off the ponies. One pony self-extricated and the remaining three were removed manually. The ponies were transferred to the care of the owner’s veterinarian.

Conditions are not known at this time.

Hutchinson Fire responded with four units and was assisted by Hutchinson Police and Animal Control.

SOUTH HUTCHINSON, Kan. — South Hutchinson Police and the KBI continue their investigation into an apparent accidental shooting that left a 3-year-old son of a Reno County Sheriffs deputy dead.

Police and EMS responded around 8:17 a.m. Friday morning to 107 E Ave. B in South Hutchinson to the report of a shooting. Police say that Kaden Nagel , son of Deputy Andrew Nagel, picked up an unsecured gun which discharged resulting in the child’s death. Deputy Nagel was in another room and heard the gun shot. Nagel performed first aid on his son until EMS arrived but the child was pronounced dead at the scene.

District Attorney Keith Schroeder in a text message tells Hutchpost that the gun didn’t belong to the deputy, it belonged to a friend and the deputy didn’t know it was there, now did the friend.

Reno County Sheriff Randy Henderson asked that everyone keep the Nagel family in their prayers during what is a very difficult situation.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – A 28-year-old man held Hutchinson Police at bay in the early morning hours of Thursday forcing officials to close off portions of West 5th between Jackson and Whiteside.

Police report that just after 2:30 a.m., Toby Hippen of Hutchinson forced entry into the residence of 26-year-old Megan Drach  at 1301 E 25th. Once inside, Hippen allegedly stabbed Drach repeatedly and then fled the scene.

She was transported to Hutchinson Regional Medical Center then transferred to a Wichita area hospital in serious but stable condition.

Hippen was located at 714 West 5th and after an extended standoff surrendered to police without incident. He was arrested for suspicion of attempted first degree murder and aggravated burglary. Bond set at $515,000.

Police say the investigation continues.

You may recall Hippen from a previous case. He was convicted of causing severe injuries to a 2-year-old child and was granted two years community corrections for two counts of aggravated battery, and one count of aggravated endangerment of a child.

Police in that case had been dispatched to 910 E Sherman back on July 18, 2011 on the report of a medical condition where a child had been badly injured. The child was first taken to the Hutchinson Regional Medical Center, and later transported to Via Christi St. Francis Regional Medical Center in Wichita.

He was discharged from corrections in April of last year.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – The desire of District Attorney Keith Schroeder to hire an additional full-time secretarial position in his office was rejected by the County Commission, however, they did compromise with him by allowing him two options. One would be for hiring a part-time position who would work no more than 19 hours per week with a total yearly salary not to exceed $12,000.

The other option was to allow some of his current staff to work overtime, not to exceed $12,000 per year.

Both Commission Chair James Schlickau and Commissioner Dan Deming were against Schroeder hiring a full-time person, especially since the county budget for next year has been set. County Commissioner Brad Dillon, being a local attorney, seemed more willing to allow Schroeder to hire a new full-time person.

Schlickau suggested that they try this for now, then perhaps revisit it next summer when they are going through the budget process.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — A 35-year-old Hutchinson man facing trial in three cases was arraigned in two of them Monday morning.

Sonny Bray entered “not guilty” pleas to felony flee and elude, criminal possession of a firearm, that being a shotgun, criminal use of a firearm, that being the shotgun with a barrel less than 18 inches, as well as three misdemeanor traffic charges.

He was arrested on July 19 after law enforcement got word of where he was. When they located him, he allegedly fled from officers and, during that chase, allegedly threw the shotgun from the vehicle. He then allegedly struck a parked semi-trailer and later a curb and a stop sign, causing the vehicle to become disabled. He then fled on foot, but was quickly captured. That occurred back in July.

In the other case, he entered a “not guilty” plea to aggravated battery with a deadly weapon where the state alleges that he struck a man with a glass bottle. That occurred back in April.

Bray has a third case pending trial on a charge of aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer, felony theft, battery and interference with law enforcement. That case goes back to September of last year.

Judge Trish Rose set a tentative trial date of March 8 for the two most recent cases.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Workers from Luminous Neon spent a warm Thursday afternoon putting some of the finishing touches on the new Cosmosphere exterior sign on the west side of the building.

It was this past summer that the Cosmosphere unveiled its new logo and word mark. The center is now called the Cosmosphere International Science Education Center and Space Museum. The logo was approved by the Cosmosphere’s Governing Board June 15, 2015, after receiving overwhelmingly positive responses from two focus groups.

The new tagline highlights the shift within the Cosmosphere’s educational programming to position the Cosmosphere to be a leader in applied science education. New curriculum focuses on Next Generation Science Standards, Common Core, and college and career readiness, taking applied STEM education and teaching students in a way that truly helps them connect the dots between theory and application.

BARBER COUNTY – Two people were injured in a small plane crash just before 5 p.m. on Wednesday in Barber County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported the Stinson 1946 single-engine fixed wing aircraft piloted by Gary Wright, 71, Medicine Lodge, was attempting to land the aircraft at Southeast Bethel Road, just south of U.S. 160, four miles east of Medicine Lodge.

The pilot tried to pull the plane back up when part of the plane caught a fence, flipped over and came to rest on its top.

A private vehicle transported Wright and a passenger, Asher Willerton, 4, Medicine Lodge, to the hospital in Medicine Lodge.

They were properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.

The accident remains under investigation.

 

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BARBER COUNTY – Two people were injured in a small plane crash just before 5 p.m. on Wednesday in Barber County.

The single engine plane crashed while trying to land on a private landing strip near the intersection of Bethel Road and 160th, according to Barber County Sheriff Justin Rugg.

Someone who witnessed the crash transported a man and a juvenile, who were on the plane, to a hospital in Medicine Lodge.

Their injuries were not considered serious, according to the sheriff.

Check the Post for additional details as they become available.

HUTCHINSON, Kan. – Reno County has issued a local disaster declaration because of the ice storm. What this declaration does is activate the response and recovery aspects of emergency plans and is also the first step in accessing other resources. It also activates mutual aid agreements if needed, protects the jurisdiction from legal liability and provides access to state assistance if needed

The City of Hutchinson has established storm debris clean-up sites. The three locations are the north parking lot of Rice Park, east parking lot at Stremel baseball field in Carey Park, and the north parking lot at Dillon Nature Center.