A man and a woman are in custody after allegedly stealing a car and more last week in St. Joseph. 

According to court documents, 21-year-old Shannon L. Schremser of St. Joseph and 38-year-old Jeff L. Pendleton of Union Star are both charged in Buchanan County with a felony of second-degree Burglary.

According to court documents, on February 7 the pair is accused of breaking into a home in 2300 block of Mansfield Rd. 

“The defendant along with a co-defendant entered a building at the residence of the victim and stole numerous items including a 2000 Lexus that was parked inside the building,” said Det. Frank Till with the St. Joseph Police Department. “Items stolen… were located inside the defendant’s residence when a search warrant was served there.” 

Det. Till said Pendleton is a suspect in at least two burglaries in the last five days and had a friend rent a truck so he and a co-defendant could facilitate more burglaries.

“Her (Schremser’s) residence is known as a drug house and is a menace to the neighborhood,” Det. Till said. “Stolen items including two stolen cars in the last week are often brought to the defendant’s house. She surrounds herself with the criminal element and the neighbors are in constant fear of what will happen at the house next.”

According to the Buchanan County Jail Inmate Inquiry, Pendleton and Schremser are both in custody on $25,000 bond. 

A preliminary hearing is scheduled on February 21 for Schremser and on February 23 for Pendleton.

The St. Joseph School District has named two educators to fill principal retirements at elementary schools in the district.

Jaimee Lawrence will take over for the retiring Jeaneen Boyer at Hyde Elementary School. Lawrence is currently the principal at Humboldt. She has been with the St. Joseph School District since 2000. During that time, she has served as a teacher, administrative intern and principal.  She will take over for Boyer at the start of the 2017-2018 school year. Boyer recently announced her retirement after more than 30 years in education.

Natalie Arnold has been selected to fill the role of principal at Oak Grove Elementary. She will replace Mike Otto, who also plans to retire at the end of this school year. Otto has been with Oak Grove for seven years. Arnold is returning to the St. Joseph School District from South Harrison R-II, where she is currently the elementary school principal. Arnold spent time as an administrative and assistant principal intern at Coleman and Edison. Prior to that, she taught vocal music at Edison for four years.

“We are thrilled to have these outstanding individuals taking on these leadership roles with the St. Joseph School District,” said Dr. Robert Newhart, superintendent. “At the same time, we are sad to see Mr. Otto and Mrs. Boyer go, as they have both contributed a lot to our schools and our kids. We wish all of them the best.”

The search for Lawrence’s replacement at Humboldt will begin immediately

A semi loaded with 180 hogs heading for market rolled over on 36 Highway in Brown County Tuesday morning.

Sheriff John Merchant said around 7 a.m. an eastbound semi rolled onto its side just south of Walmart on 36 Highway.

“Emergency responders arrived shortly after the accident and contained the loose pigs off of the south side of the highway in the right-of-way,” Merchant said. “We were very fortunate to have a county resident who immediately was en route to the location with a portable corral.”

Merchant said the corral was quickly set up and the pigs were contained and loaded by emergency personnel and the owners. He said around 180 were on the trailer.

Merchant said the Kansas State Highway Patrol worked the crash. KDOT provided traffic control. Hiawatha Fire Department, Squad 48 and Town and Country Ambulance were also on scene.

“U S HWY 36 was only shut down for a short amount of time to enable wrecker crews to remove the semi and trailer,” Merchant said.

At noon KSHP had not yet posted the crash report online.

St. Joseph police responding to noise complaint arrested a man they say was smoking pot and revving his engine while in possession of 100 grams of meth, thousands of dollars in cash and an illegal firearm.

Now the 30-year-old St. Joe man faces a charge of drug trafficking, and if convicted faces from five to 15 years in prison.

In court documents, police say officers were dispatched to the 2800 block of Sylvanie on February 11 for a noise complaint. Upon arrival, the officers contacted the driver of a Mazda RX8 parked on the street in the area. Officers say they smelled marijuana in the vehicle and spotted a bottle of liquor. When Johnathan Hatheway was removed from the vehicle and identified, officers determined that he had an outstanding warrant for his arrest.

At that point, according to the court affidavit, Hatheway fled on foot, making it about two blocks before being arrested by other officers.

In the affidavit, Detective Chase Cotter of the St. Joseph Police Department said the defendant had over $4,400 in cash on him. A loaded handgun was found in the car. Detective Cotter also said they found approximately 100.7 grams of meth, some marijuana, a digital scale and some plastic baggies.

According to the affidavit, Hatheway has a prior conviction for drug possession, and has at least 14 prior arrests for failure to appear.

A judge set bail at $25,000. Hatheway is being held in the Buchanan County Jail pending an initial court appearance on Friday.

A 20-year-old man was arrested in St. Joseph after allegedly stealing a car in Kansas City, Kan. at gunpoint.

Barwu Dweh of Kansas City, Kan. is charged in Buchanan County with a felony of first-degree tampering with a motor vehicle.

According to court documents, on Sunday officers with the St. Joseph Police Department responded to the 1800 block of N. 36th St. where OnStar GPS showed the location of a car stolen at gun point from KCK.  An officer allegedly arrived on scene and spotted the stolen vehicle and a man matching the suspect description later identified by police as Dweh.

“When the Officer, who was in a marked police car and uniform, gave a lawful order for the defendant to stop, the defendant verbally refused and continued walking away,” said Det. Chase Cotter with the St. Joseph Police Department. “The defendant resisted arrest and dropped a pistol in the process.  He was placed in custody after a violent struggle which resulted in substantial injury to one officer.”

Cotter said keys to the stolen vehicle as well as property taken from the victim’s vehicle were found in Dweh’s pocket.

“The defendant is a suspect in a stolen auto case in Kansas City, Kan. where he is believed to intentionally ran into the victim’s vehicle with another vehicle in order to steal hers,” Cotter said.

Dweh is scheduled for an arraignment Friday in front of Judge Keith Marquart.  According to the Buchanan County Jail Inmate Inquiry he is being held on $25,420.50 bail for the felony and a separate misdemeanor charge.

The St. Joseph City Council on Monday voted to exercise eminent domain for the final two tracts of real estate needed for construction of the Blacksnake Creek Stormwater Separation Improvement Project. But officials say settlement efforts continue, with only one case apparently heading to litigation.

The two tracts, at 3801 N. 18th St. and 4133 St. Joseph Ave., are the last of 26 being bought by the city for the project.

City manager Bruce Woody told the council one of the property owners reached agreement with the city on Monday. The other landowner has been in contact and is expected to meet with city staff soon.

The $63 million project will include a conveyance tunnel to carry stormwater from Blacksnake Creek to the Missouri River. It’s part of a mandate from the federal government, with the goal of reducing sewer overflows into the Missouri River.

In other action Monday, the council heard a first reading on a bill to accept easements and warranty deeds from 13 of the project properties with a total pricetag of nearly $300,000. Those deals were negotiated without eminent domain.

Woody said they should wrap up the land purchases about $280,000 under the $850,000 budgeted for real estate.