Post Staff – Page 408 – St. Joseph Post Archive

Program to offer insight into Highway Patrol

Posted on July 23, 2016July 22, 2016

The Missouri State Highway Patrol is offering a program for the public to learn more about the patrol’s responsibilities within the community.

Applications are currently being accepted through August from area citizens wanting to take part in a Community Alliance Program at the Troop H Headquarters.

The program begins, September 20, and conclude with an awards banquet on Tuesday, October 18, 2016. The program is designed to allow the public to learn more about the Patrol’s purpose and role within the law enforcement community. The Highway Patrol said it is seeking responsible citizens, community leaders, students, and professional/business associates who are willing to commit to the program.

The classes will meet from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday evenings at the Troop H Headquarters in St Joseph. Successful completion of the program will require attendance at each Tuesday evening session (one absence will be allowed with prior approval from the program coordinator). The curriculum will familiarize participants with many Patrol policies and procedures, utilizing teaching techniques similar to the Patrol’s Law Enforcement Academy in Jefferson City. These sessions will cover traffic stops, firearms familiarization, marine operations, and many other aspects of the Patrol.

The Patrol is accepting applications for the Community Alliance Program Through August 31, 2016. There is no cost to participate in the program. Selection of the 20 participants will be on a first come, first served basis and will be made following an evaluation of an application form and a criminal record check. Any parties interested in participating in the program can contact Sergeant Jake Angle at (816) 387-2344 ext. 3847.

KCP&L customers to see slight increase Aug. 1

Posted on July 22, 2016

Starting in August Kansas City Power & Light customers will see a slight increase in their bill.

According to a news release, the Missouri Public Service Commission has approved an application filed by KCP&L Greater Missouri Operations Company (KCP&L-GMO) to adjust the Demand Side Investment Mechanism (DSIM) charge on customer bills. The DSIM charge, which appears as a separate line-item on customer bills, allows KCP&L-GMO to recover demand-side management program costs and incentives.

According to the application, a residential customer using 1,000 kWh (kilowatt-hours) of electricity a month will see the charge increase by approximately $0.69 a month. The increase is expected to take effect on August 1, 2016.

KCP&L-GMO provides electric service to approximately 316,600 customers in the Missouri counties of Andrew, Atchison, Barton, Bates, Benton, Buchanan, Carroll, Cass, Cedar, Clay, Clinton, Dade, Daviess, DeKalb, Gentry, Grundy, Harrison, Henry, Holt, Jackson, Johnson, Lafayette, Livingston, Mercer, Nodaway, Pettis, Platte, Ray, St. Clair, Vernon and Worth.

Five charged in double-homicide appear by video conference

Posted on July 22, 2016July 22, 2016

The five people charged in connection with Sunday’s double-homicide investigation on Safari Dr. made their first court appearance Friday.

Omar Martinez-Velez, 34, Luis Omar Robles-Vargas, 31, Alexi Martinez-Andino, 19, Luz A. Figueroa-Castillo, 29, and Raymond Jimenez Bencebi, Jr., 26 all from St. Joseph were each charged with a felony for second-degree murder in connection with the shooting deaths of Kevilee (Kevin) Villegas-Melendez, 22 and Raymond Gonzalez-Ortiz, 25 . Each defendant appeared Friday morning by video conference from the Buchanan County Jail.

Several of the defendants appeared for their arraignment with an interpreter. Police have previously confirmed their background from Puerto Rico but that they are St. Joseph residents.

According to court documents all five of the defendants were in the area of Lion Rd. and Safari Dr. Sunday and had a loaded firearm at the time multiple rounds were fired from several weapons striking and causing the death of Villegas-Melendez and Ortiz. Each defendant is accused of firing numerous rounds at the victims striking both of them.

Police Chief Chris Connally has said previously in reference to this case that police believe this was a situation that involved career criminals.

As we previously reported, extra security measures were taken Friday morning at the Buchanan County Courthouse for the arraignments.

Cpl. Sarah Hardin with the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office said extra personnel was on hand because of the high-profile case. She said offices inside the courthouse are closed today due to decisions individual offices made. The municipal court also closed until 1 p.m.

The St. Joseph Police Department began investigating shots fired Monday on Delaware in connection with Sunday’s double-homicide investigation. Court documents show that area is near the home of two of the defendants in this case.

Preliminary hearings were set Friday at separate times for each of the defendants. Martinez-Velez for Aug. 22 at 1 p.m., Robles-Vargas Aug. 18 at 3 p.m., Martinez-Andino Aug. 11 at 3 p.m., Figueroa-Castillo Aug. 19 at 1 p.m., and Bencebi Aug. 19 at 9 a.m.

Woman accused of fleeing from law enforcement

Posted on July 22, 2016July 22, 2016

Jennifer Saunders Buchanan County Booking Photo — Jennifer Saunders
Buchanan County Booking Photo

A St. Joseph woman has been charged after a police chase on Olive St.

Jennifer Krohn-Saunders, 31 was charged Thursday in Buchanan County with a felony for resisting arrest stemming from an incident that allegedly took place last month.

According to court documents, Capt. Shawn Collie with the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department witnesses Saunders driving a vehicle June 29th and tried to stop her at 22nd and Olive for an active felony warrant.

“We attempted to stop Saunders by activating emergency lights and sirens. Saunders accelerated and traveled west on Olive Street reaching approximately 50 MPH in a residential neighborhood,” Capt. Collie said. “Saunders turned south onto 16th Street sliding around the corner. We shut off the emergency equipment and stopped as Saunders continued south on 16th Street at a high rate of speed. At Mitchell Saunders failed to stop for the stop sign and went airborn through the intersection continuing south on 16th Street out of sight.”

Online records for the Buchanan County Jail show Saunders was booked into the jail July 13th.

She’s scheduled for an arraignment July 26. Bail has been set at $10,000 cash only.

Courthouse increases security measures for Safari murder cases

Posted on July 22, 2016July 22, 2016

Extra security measures are being taken at the Buchanan County Courthouse Friday morning with five defendants scheduled for an arraignment in a double-homicide investigation.

Cpl. Sarah Hardin with the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Office said extra personnel is on hand this morning.

“Anytime there’s a high profile murder case, specifically with several defendants then we weigh out any security risks and we go from there as to how we proceed with security for the day,” Hardin said.

She said offices inside the courthouse are closed today due to decisions individual offices made. The municipal court is also closed until 1 p.m.

Omar Martinez-Velez, 34, Luis Omar Robles-Vargas, 31, Alexi Martinez-Andino, 19, Luz A. Figueroa-Castillo, 29, and Raymond Jimenez Bencebi, Jr., 26 have each been charged with a felony for second-degree murder. The charges are in connection with the shooting deaths of Kevilee (Kevin) Villegas-Melendez, 22 and Raymond Gonzalez Ortiz, 25 who were found dead Sunday morning in the 1900 block of Safari Dr.

Each of the defendants are scheduled for an arraignment Friday morning. They are all being held without Bond.

Dangerous heat index values continue in your 7-day forecast

Posted on July 22, 2016

An excessive heat warning continues until 8pm Saturday. Here’s the 7-day forecast from the National Weather Service.

Today: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 98. Heat index values as high as 110. South southwest wind 6 to 11 mph.

Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 76. South southeast wind 7 to 9 mph.

Saturday: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 99. Heat index values as high as 110. South wind 9 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 77. South wind 9 to 13 mph.

Sunday: Partly sunny, with a high near 93. South southwest wind 7 to 9 mph becoming north northwest in the afternoon.

Sunday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Monday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 87. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 70.

Tuesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 88.

Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 70.

Wednesday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 86. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

Wednesday Night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 69. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

Thursday: A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly sunny, with a high near 87. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

Shoe store on the Belt robbed Thursday night

Posted on July 22, 2016July 22, 2016

A man brandishing a knife robbed a shoe store on the Belt Highway Thursday night.

According to the St. Joseph Police Department, a man described as a white male entered the Red Wing shoe store at 411 South Belt at 7 p.m., displayed a knife and demanded money.

Police said the suspect is described as being a white male approximately 20 to 30 years old, 5’4″ and 190 lbs with a long scruffy brown beard.

Anyone with information is asked to call the TIPS hotline at (816) 238-TIPS.

St. Joseph man sentenced for solar fraud

Posted on July 21, 2016

(News release) – A former owner of a solar energy installation company in St. Joseph, Mo., was sentenced in federal court Thursday for his role in a fraud scheme that totaled nearly $1.4 million in rebates through state and federal programs.

Trevor Dryden, 36, of Texas but formerly of St. Joseph, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to two years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Dryden to pay $1,396,956 in restitution to the victims of his fraud scheme, consisting of $464,080 payable to KCP&L for the state rebate fraud and $932,876 payable to the government for the federal rebate fraud (with the amount owed to the government jointly and severally with Richard Shonemann).

On Feb. 2, 2016, Dryden pleaded guilty to one count of participating in a conspiracy to fraudulently obtain state and federal solar rebates and to four counts of making false statements related to state and federal solar rebate programs.

Dryden was an owner of US Solar in St. Joseph, which sold and installed solar-powered panel systems to businesses and home owners in northwest Missouri. In a separate but related case, US Solar co-owner Richard Schonemann, 39, of St. Joseph, pleaded guilty on Sept. 2, 2015, to his role in the conspiracy and to one count of making false statements. Schonemann’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Aug. 8, 2016.

Dryden admitted that he was involved in three separate fraud schemes: first, a fraud related to KCP&L state rebates; second, a fraud related to the federal rebate program; and third, a fraud related to annual updates for the federal program. The total loss from the fraudulent schemes is $1,396,956.

Hastings stores to close

Posted on July 21, 2016

All Hastings Entertainment stores are expected to close.

Hastings said the timeline of store closures is still to be determined.

As we previously reported, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection five weeks ago.

All Hastings Stores, e-Commerce business and corporate office plan to discontinue operations. According to the store’s website there are more than 150 retail locations including a location in St. Joseph.

The company said the Bankruptcy Court is expected to approve an agreement on Friday with the companies who will oversee store closing sales, Hilco Merchant Resources LLC and Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC.

Gift cards to the store expired on July 13 and it previously discontinued game rentals and its buyback program.

In a statement Hastings said filing for Chapter 11 was with the goal of expediting its search for a buyer that would help complete its remerchandising strategy and position the business for long-term success.

“At the completion of the sale process yesterday, the winning buyer was a joint venture that will instead oversee a liquidation of our stores to ensure we are maximizing the value of all of our remaining merchandise and assets as we prepare to close,” the statement said. “We thank our customers and employees for their loyalty over the years, and we hope to see our customers at store closing sales.”

Missouri vehicle stops report causes controversy in Columbia

Posted on July 21, 2016

Columbia police Chief Ken Burton (Photo courtesy MDC)

(Missourinet) – Some want Columbia police Chief Ken Burton to resign for “dismissing the community’s concerns about racial profiling problems”. A 2015 state report about traffic stops says that black drivers were three times more likely than white drivers to be pulled over last year by Columbia police.

Burton says the data conducted by the Missouri Attorney General’s office is flawed and doesn’t tell the whole picture.

“I’m sensitive to the fact that people may believe that they’ve been profile and maybe they actually have been. I’ll even go that far, but I can tell you that I find no evidence of it,” says Burton. “My opinion is that the data doesn’t go far enough. We need to collect a lot more data than we are collecting because we just collect the number of people that are stopped, what their race was and we stop there.”

Data analyst Tara Warne-Griggs says the report is clear. She says it summarizes the purpose of stops, location and actions of officers.

“Members of our community have repeatedly indicated that things are happening that they feel are unfair,” says Warne-Griggs.

Traci Wilson-Kleekamp of advocacy group “Race Matters, Friends” says Burton’s denial of racial profiling issues is unacceptable.

“We have a chief, who is paid well, denying the data. If you can’t come up with answers to that data, I think you should resign and find a job somewhere else,” says Wilson-Kleekamp.

Burton’s lawyer accuses Columbia mayor Brian Treece of trying to fire Burton. Attorneys from local firm Eng and Woods sent Treece a newly-leaked letter, saying they’ve heard he’s trying to get support from Columbia’s City Council to fire Burton. They argue that violates city charter. The letter ends by saying Burton would listen to settlement offers if the city wants him out.