COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Police in central Missouri say they have arrested a suspect after reports that a naked man broke into two homes.

Interim Columbia Police Chief Geoff Jones said the man got into homes about a half-mile apart early Saturday. He said police believe he tried to enter other homes.

In both cases residents woke up and found the man, who fled.

In one case the man was under the bed and in the other he was next to the bed. No one was injured.

Columbia police said in a news release Monday that 35-year-old Victor Hugo Mendoza had been arrested and being held in the Boone County jail awaiting bond.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Police in central Missouri are asking for the public’s help to find a man who was naked when he broke into two homes.

Interim Columbia Police Chief Geoff Jones said the man got into homes about a half-mile apart early Saturday. He said police believe he tried to enter other homes.

In both cases residents woke up and found the man, who fled. No one was injured.

In one case the man was under the bed and in the other he was next to the bed.

Jones says women were in the bedrooms in both cases but he didn’t know if they were alone.

Both homes the man entered were unlocked. There were no signs of property damage or theft.

CLAY COUNTY — A woman is recovering after injured in a weekend lightning strike.

Just after 2p.m. Saturday, emergency crews responded to Collins Road on the east side of Smithville Lake, approximately 30 miles north of Kansas City, according to Fire Chief Dave Cline.

A 55-year-old woman and her husband were fishing from the shore at the time of the lightning strike.

Cline said he didn’t know if she was directly hit or if the lightning hit the ground or something else nearby. Authorities didn’t see rocks or anything hit by the lightning.

Emergency crews transported the woman to the hospital with burn injuries. Cline did not have an update on her condition early Monday.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Low pay is the biggest reason that Missouri teachers are leaving the profession, according to a new survey.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recently shared its findings from a survey of 6,000 teachers, principals and administrators with the State Board of Education, St. Louis Public Radio reported.

The board’s president, Charlie Shields, said the data is powerful because every surveyed group cited salary as the number one issue when it comes to recruiting and retaining teachers.

The survey found that pay was followed by a lack of leadership and support as reasons that lead to teachers quitting.

Missouri’s average salary for teachers is $48,293, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics.

The minimum salary the state can pay teachers is $25,000, but only a few teachers in rural distracts earn that amount.

Pay is typically decided by each district, often after negotiations with a teachers’ union. Districts with high property tax bases can pay their teachers more since they’re less reliant on the state as a major source for school funding.

The Missouri State Teachers Association said most teachers start out making between $30,000 and $40,000 a year. Teacher salaries increase based on their education level and years of classroom experience.

School board member Peter Herschend called the strategy “awful” because it doesn’t take into account the quality of a teacher.

Board members considered issues with teacher pay earlier this year and found that improving teacher retention is more nuanced than raising salaries.

“The theme that I seem to hear in there was, ‘I don’t want to be rich, but what’s being asked of me doesn’t equal how I’m being valued,’” said Paul Katnik, the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s assistant commissioner. “And pay is just a piece of that, but there’s a real erosion of respect.”

PHELPS COUNTY — One person died in an accident just 11p.m. Sunday in Phelps County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol reported a 2018 Nissan Altima driven by Justin E. Tieman, 21, Lee’s Summit, was northbound on Phelps County Road 8010 three miles north of Rolla.

The vehicle traveled off the road, struck a driveway, became airborne, struck trees and the driver was ejected. Tieman was pronounced dead at the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt, according to the MSHP.

KANSAS CITY– A registered sex offender in has been sentenced in federal court for possessing and exchanging child pornography over the internet.

Harrison Elliot Combs, 28, Independence, Missouri, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark on Wednesday, May 15, to 15 years in federal prison without parole. The court also sentenced Combs to 20 years of supervised release following incarceration.

Combs, a registered sex offender, has a prior conviction for possessing child pornography.

On Aug. 10, 2018, Combs pleaded guilty to one count of receiving child pornography over the internet, eight counts of attempting to distribute child pornography over the internet, and one count of possessing child pornography.

This investigation began when a law enforcement officer was conducting an investigation into a peer-to-peer file-sharing network. On three separate occasions, Combs’s computer was downloading child pornography from the network. On Sept. 23, 2016, officers executed a search warrant at Combs’s residence and seized his cell phone and other items. Examiners discovered approximately 1,631 images and 168 videos of child pornography on those items. The majority of the images appeared to be of infant- to toddler-aged females involved in sexually explicit conduct by adults. In addition to his cell phone, child pornography files were also associated with computers, a gaming system, a thumb drive, and optical discs belonging to Combs.

In January 2017, Combs’s computer was again identified by law enforcement as downloading child pornography from a peer-to-peer file-sharing network on several occasions. There were approximately 1,962 image and video files downloaded between Jan. 7 and Jan. 16, 2017. The files included prepubescent males and females as young as toddlers involved in sexually explicit conduct by adults. Officers executed a search warrant at Combs’s residence, where they arrested Combs and seized his cell phone.

SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating  a suspect on drug charges after a Kansas traffic stop.

Just after 11a.m. Friday, Shawnee County Sheriff’s Office deputies conducted a traffic stop on a rented 2019 Cadillac CT5 traveling eastbound on  Interstate 70 just east of the Topeka toll plaza  on theKansas Turnpike in Shawnee County, according to Deputy Shayna Anderson

The driver, later identified at Robert A. Love, 55, Troy, Ohio, was stopped for a traffic violation. Through the investigation of the stop, deputies seized 13.2 pounds of Marijuana
12 containers of 30 count 10mg Marijuana edibles and one half pound of concentrated wax marijuana

The estimated street value of these items is around $47,000.

Deputies arrested Love and booked him into the Shawnee County Dept. of Corrections with charges of Felony Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Distribute and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Prosecutors say a 51-year-old man was fatally shot and his wife wounded in a dispute over a $5 difference in the price of marijuana.

The shooting happened early Friday in northeast Kansas City, Missouri. Jackson County prosecutors say 51-year-old Charles Cecil was killed and his 53-year-old wife was critically injured.

A 17-year-old boy has been charged with second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the shooting. Online court records didn’t list an attorney for him Sunday.