A man arrested in St. Joseph in February for allegedly stealing a car at gunpoint in Kansas City has been deemed incompetent to stand trial. Dweh Barwu on Tuesday was remanded to the custody of the Missouri Department of Mental Health.

Barwu was charged with first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle, a class-d felony. St. Joseph police were dispatched to the 1800 block of N. 36th St. on February 12.

A GPS system allegedly revealed he was in possession of a vehicle stolen at gunpoint In Kansas City, Kansas. He has denied stealing the vehicle and has claimed in court that he was abused by police during his arrest.

In court documents, police said an officer tried to arrest him, but he refused to comply and a struggle ensued in which the officer was injured. An affidavit noted that the defendant was near the vehicle, and had the keys and other property from the stolen vehicle in his pocket. He allegedly dropped a firearm during the struggle with the officer.

Court proceedings in St. Joseph have been suspended pending future developments from mental health officials.

A St. Joe man will be sentenced in June on domestic assault charges.

Anthony Hanner was charged after an incident April 14 in which a woman was seriously injured.  As we reported earlier, Hanner is being held without bail.

Police said in court documents that the victim suffered fractures to her jaw, ribs and eye socket.

“I hit her,” Hanner told Circuit Judge Daniel Kellogg.

Court documents assert he hit her many times, knocking her unconscious by forcing her to the floor and then striking her in the head with his knee.

Judge Kellogg scheduled sentencing for June 22.

A Kansas City woman in court for arraignment suffered seizures in a Buchanan County courtroom Thursday morning.

Kimberly Smith-Bodziak was arraigned without an attorney before Judge Daniel Kellogg on bad check charges. She was waiting to be returned to the county jail when a court marshall, Deputy Brian Gross, along with some fellow detainees, noticed her having difficulty breathing.

She was not responsive when Gross tended to her.  He contacted a jail nurse, and while they waited, he and Deputy Velda King-Mays tended to her, holding her upright and speaking quietly to her. Judge Kellogg left the courtroom to get a wheel chair. When the jail nurse, Annie Slagle, arrived, she placed a wet paper towel to the back of Smith-Bodziak’s neck, which prompted an audible response, the first since her seizures began.

The nurse and deputies lifted her up and placed her in the wheelchair. She was taken back to the county jail where Slagle was expected to continue her assessment, and possible treatment or transport.

Sheriff Bill Puett said later that Smith-Bodziak was back in jail and is fine.

 

It’s not clear from the court record just how the baby was injured, but the man who waited five hours before taking an unresponsive child to the hospital will serve 30 days shock detention followed by four years supervised probation.

Malachi Johnson pleaded guilty in March to one count of 1st degree endangering the welfare of a child, a class-c felony. The incident happened in August, 2015, a warrant was issued in March of 2016.

A probable cause affidavit cited hospital records that showed extensive injuries “…consisting of swelling to the brain, bleeding to the back of eyes, and brusing to the chest and back caused by violent trauma to the head and body.” The child survived. In his guilty plea, Johnson said he failed to supervise his minor daughter, who was taking care of the infant victim, and failed to make himself aware of the condition of the victim.

During a sentencing hearing last week, Circuit Judge Patrick Robb ordered a suspended sentence, and placed Johnson on probation for four years, to be supervised by the Board of Probation and Parole. He also ordered 30 days shock time in the Buchanan County Jail. If directed by the board, Johnson must attend a treatment program. He must not consume, possess or purchase alcoholic beverages and is ordered not to enter any establishment whose primary source of income is from the sale of alcoholic beverages. He must also submit to random drug and alcohol testing.

Judge Robb delayed execution of the shock sentence until Tuesday. Johnson is now serving that part of the sentence.

Nearly 4,000 homes and business lost electricity Wednesday evening in southeastern St. Joseph.

According to the KCP&L Power outage map, the outage area ran from U.S. 36 Highway south nearly to Faucett, Mo. along I-29. The area extended just east of the interstate and west to an area west of 22nd St.

By about 5:15 p.m. the map no longer showed the outages, but at the peak, 3,911 customers were without power. It was not immediately known what caused the outage.

There were some smaller, scattered outages in other areas, including County Club Village and Lewis & Clark Village. The Kansas City area continues to show numerous outages that have been active since severe weather crossed the area Wednesday afternoon.

Law enforcement in Livingston County announced six citations for supplying alcohol to minors after an operation on the weekend of May 12.

Sheriff Steve cox says his office teamed up with the Midland Empire Alcohol Task Force, which led to several citations.

 

*Chillicothe woman cited in 700 block of Elm Street, Chillicothe at 5:38 p.m.
*Chillicothe woman cited in the 1100 block of Washington Street, Chillicothe at 6:05 p.m.
*Laclede woman cited in the 500 block of West Mohawk, Chillicothe at 6:36 p.m.
*Breckenridge woman cited in the 600 block of Business 36, Chillicothe at 8:05 p.m.
*Chillicothe woman cited in the 1,000 block S. Washington, Chillicothe at 8:30 p.m.
*Chillicothe woman cited in the 500 block of Waite Street in Chula at 9:26 p.m.
*Various other locations and people were checked and found to be in legal compliance.

Sheriff Cox says the project and the deputy overtime was funded through a grant managed by the Midland Empire Alcohol Task Force. The LCSO and MEATF have worked these enforcement investigations for several years. Cox says both organizations and the Division of Liquor Control have and will continue to host compliance training for employees and businesses in Livingston County and surrounding areas.

The St. Joseph School District is inviting the public to attend a task force meeting aimed at shaping the district’s future.

The One Vision Citizens Task Force will hold its first meeting Thursday at 7:30 a.m. at emPowerU located at 518 S. 6th St.

As we previously reported, Curtis Zahnd and Tara Stoll were named to serve on the task force last week.

The district said the Citizens Task Force has a goal of reviewing community input and reaching agreement on recommendations to take to the Board of Education regarding steps to be taken to address the District’s fiscal challenges.

A series of task force meetings will be held in May, June and July. The goal is for the group to report its recommendations to the Board of Education in late July or early August.