(News release) – A former paramedic with two northwest Missouri ambulance districts pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to stealing pain-killing drugs and replacing the vials with water.

Joseph L. Comstock, 31, of Bethany, Mo., waived his right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to a federal information that charges him with three counts of tampering with a consumer product (fentanyl and morphine) with reckless disregard for the risk that another person would be placed in danger of death or bodily injury, and under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to such risk.

By pleading guilty today, Comstock admitted that he emptied vials of morphine and fentanyl, taking it for his own personal use, and replaced the pain-killing drugs with sterilized water. Comstock tampered with the drug vials while working at both the NTA Ambulance District in Bethany and the Community Ambulance District of Daviess County in Gallatin, Mo., in 2014 and 2015.

Comstock started tampering with drugs in March 2014, following a medical procedure to remove his tonsils. He accessed drugs on ambulances and was able to bend up the lid of the plastic boxes and dump out the drugs he wished to tamper with. He obtained both fentanyl and morphine from ambulances and replaced the drugs with sterile water.

Comstock admitted there were at least two occasions where he personally treated patients with drugs he knew he had tampered with. These patients were both hip fracture patients that were supposed to receive fentanyl but instead received sterile water that Comstock had replaced in the vial.

Federal officials were notified on March 4, 2015, of possible drug tampering at the NTA Ambulance District in Bethany. The chief of EMS reported that an employee had noticed two morphine syringes had broken tamper-evident seals. On Jan. 30, 2015, an employee noticed that two morphine syringes had broken tamper-evident seals. On Feb. 27, 2015, ambulance employees looked through narcotic boxes kept on the three NTA ambulances. They found a number of drugs that were missing tamper-evidence caps and had broken tamper-evident seals, including midazolam, lorazepam, morphine and fentanyl.

Federal agents installed surveillance equipment at the Bethany NTA building on March 18, 2015. A camera was also placed on an ambulance, which was taken out of service. Comstock was recorded on the surveillance video as he stole morphine from the ambulance on two separate occasions on March 19 and March 23, 2015. Comstock later admitted that he had tampered with drugs on all the ambulances prior to that as well.

Comstock also admitted that he tampered with drugs when he visited the Gallatin ambulance building on Feb. 24, 2015. An employee found Comstock (who had stopped working at the Gallatin ambulance company in June 2014) inside the Gallatin ambulance building. Comstock explained he had come by the Gallatin facility to use the treadmill. Later that same day, the employee went on a service call and treated a man suffering from leg pain with 100 mcg of fentanyl; however, the man did not receive any pain relief. When the employee returned, he examined the narcotics cabinet and found several fentanyl vials with loose caps, as well as morphine that appeared to have been tampered with.

The Gallatin ambulance director told federal agents about another suspicious situation at his ambulance building involving Comstock that occurred a week earlier. On Feb. 17, 2015, Comstock stopped by the ambulance building to visit with another paramedic. The next day, another employee checked the narcotics cabinet and noticed two fentanyl vials without their tamper-resistant caps. Subsequently several other fentanyl vials were discovered to have been tampered with.

Under federal statutes, Comstock is subject to a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison without parole on each of the three counts. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendants will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. Sentencing hearings will be scheduled after the completion of presentence investigations by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin G. Davids. It was investigated by the Food and Drug Administration – Office of Criminal Investigation and the Bethany, Mo., Police Department.

The St. Joseph Police Department is investigating shots fired at officers early Tuesday morning during a traffic stop.

Capt. Jeff Wilson said shortly after 3 a.m. officers tried to perform a traffic stop on a white passenger vehicle in the area of 23rd and Olive Streets.

“When the officers turned on the emergency equipment to pull the vehicle over the vehicle slowed down for a little bit and then it began to take off from the officers,” Wilson said.

When the suspect vehicle turned, officers said the driver fired four to five shots at them. Neither the officers nor the patrol vehicle were struck. Wilson said officers were unable to catch back up with the vehicle and police are still searching for the suspect or suspects. Police are not yet releasing an in-depth description of the vehicle due to the ongoing investigation.

“It’s just another example of the careless behavior that’s going on in the city now and the attitude when it comes to gun violence and the use of weapons,” Wilson said. “We’ve had multiple shootings. This is the third time in three weeks that our officers have been shot at.”

As we previously reported, two St. Joseph men were arrested at the end of August when officers were fired on during an incident near the Trails West! festival. Also, multiple shots were fired at an officer Sunday, Sept. 3 in the area of 18th and Sylvanie.

Wilson said police are reaching out to the public to help with any information they might have that would help police to identify some of the people who are putting the community at risk.

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

Brothers Taimoor and Rehan Nana and their longtime friend Kyle Davis have turned what started off as a hobby into a career in front of the camera.

While the three are from the Kansas City area, their FYI show, You Can’t Turn That Into A House actually got its roots on farmland just north of St. Joseph nearly 10 years ago.

“We had an old grain bin that you see a lot in Missouri and Kansas…and we had an old barn that was 100-years-old and had kind of partially collapsed due to a tornado,” said Taimoor. “We harvested some of the wood out of the old barn and made a two-story cabin inside of the grain bin.”

Taimoor said, after that, they kept building things for fun and then started doing it for other people. He said, eventually, Red Arrow Industries, a production company hooked up with them and the FYI Network.

“We take structures and we build them into luxury cabins now,” Taimoor said.

Some of their structures have included a dumpster, school buses, a stock trailer, storage tank, and dairy trucks.  The guys have tackled projects in northwest Missouri, central Missouri, as far west as Manhattan, Kan. and down to Texas. Rehan said each project is unique.

“A lot of them would just be left rotting in a field or something like that. So to be able to reuse them and make a house out of them is really incredible,” Rehan said.

A project they worked on in Platte City will appear on an episode of You Can’t Turn That Into A House that will air at 8:30 p.m. on Sept. 23 on the FYI channel. It included converting a dilapidated round house into a french-farmhouse style summer home. Davis is the architect of the group and said the Platte City build was one of his favorites.

“There’s not many opportunities that you get to build a clear roof,” Davis said. “It was a really cool space because you have the nice heavy stone and then we had these big wood timbers and then you have that clear roof so you’re really incorporating a lot of the elements.”

Some projects they want to turn into homes but haven’t yet include: an airplane, a cattle trailer and an upside-down sailboat. They said the sailboat is next on the to-do list.

“No matter what it is that you have, the real answer is: You can turn that into a house,” Davis said.

Volunteers have raised thousands of dollars for Alzheimer’s research with thousands more needed to meet goal as part of the 2017 Walk to End Alzheimer’s campaign in St. Joseph.

According to the Alzheimer’s Association’s website, as of Friday the campaign had raised 69 percent of its $25,500 goal.  The one mile walk will be held Sept. 24th at Heritage Park located at 2202 Waterworks Rd.  Registration begins at 8 a.m. with a ceremony and walk to follow.

Brenda Gregg is a Dementia Care Specialist with the organization’s Hearth of American Chapter which serves 66 counties in Kansas and Missouri.  Gregg said the association’s mission is to advance research to provide and enhance care and support for those affected and reduce the risk of dementia.

“Right now we know more than ever before about the disease, and right now there is more research going on than ever before about coming up with a treatment or a cure for Alzheimer’s,” Gregg said. “I don’t know how close we are but we’re definitely on our way.”

Mike Ritter, whose mother is affected by the Alzheimer’s disease, volunteers his time with the Alzheimer’s Association.

“Often when I go to visit my mom I don’t know if I’m going to see my mom or if i’m going to see what’s left of my mom after Alzheimer’s has kind of had its way with her.  I never know which version of her I’m going to see,” Ritter said. “In our case it has taken away small bits and pieces of mom very slowly and then there are other moments when it has taken huge gaps of her memory and her personality.”

Ritter said he knows a cure for the disease is too late for his mother, but he’s hopeful researchers will come up with a solution for other families.

CLICK HERE for more information on the 2017 Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

Officers are stepping up enforcement efforts and asking the community for help in the attempt to curb an increase in shots fired around St. Joseph.

Police Chief Chris Connally with the St. Joseph Police Department said, so far this year, 681 shots fired calls have been reported. In 2016 there were 529. This year, around 90 bullets hit something such as a vehicle, house or person. That’s a 38.8 percent increase from 2016.

“We need to make sure we don’t have a casual attitude for firearms,” Connally said. “It’s not okay to practice shooting by shooting out of the window of a moving vehicle. That’s what firing ranges are for. It’s not acceptable to shoot guns off because someone is mad at their boyfriend or girlfriend when they go out there. It’s not okay for them to use that to intimidate or harass somebody.”

Connally said some of the shooting investigations are gang related and others are not. He said most of the shootings are between people who are known to each other.

“In nearly every case that we’ve run into the victims and suspects have previous involvement with each other,” Connally said. “Oftentimes we’re told by the victim that, ‘they do not know who the suspect is.’  Then we find out the names through some friend of theirs. We find out that the victim has told everybody else who the suspect is but the police.”

Connally said the police department will continue to pursue the cases regardless of cooperation from the victims.

“These are very difficult to prosecute. We know who most of the players are. Frequently they’ve had numerous contacts with law enforcement. Most of them we’ve arrested before,” Connally said. “If we cannot make the shooting case we will continue to pursue other criminal involvement that they’re involved in.”

Connally said, while shootings have been reported in different locations around St. Joseph, recently a lot of activity has been in the midtown area.

“We’re focusing on both locations where we’re seeing the behavior as well as individuals that we know that are involved in the behavior,” he said.

Police are asking for support from the community.

“We encourage members of our community to get involved in neighborhood groups,” Connally said. “For those who aren’t as comfortable coming forward there is Crime Stoppers. Please don’t hesitate to call the TIPS Hotline at 238-TIPS.”

 

The St. Joseph Police Department is searching for a suspect after shots were fired at an officer early Sunday morning.

Capt. Jeff Wilson said around 4 a.m. in the area of 18th and Sylvanie multiple shots were fired at an officer. The officer was not hit. Wilson said the officer did not return fire. As of Sunday evening police did not have any suspects.

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

(News Release) Eagleville, Mo. – Missouri’s rich native grassland heritage will be celebrated at a free PrairieDays event Sept. 15 and 16 at Dunn Ranch Prairie and Pawnee Prairie Natural Area. The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), and other conservation partners are hosts for this special event in Harrison County. Visitors can enjoy the early autumn wildflowers, native grasses, bison tours, and experts discussing prairie ecology, from butterflies to birds such as prairie chickens.

Prairie Days will kick off on Friday, Sept. 15, with 7 p.m. social gathering at TNC’s Dunn Ranch headquarters, 16970 W. 150th St., Hatfield, Mo. The headquarters is west of Eagleville, Mo. Biologists will talk about prairie history, grassland management and projects such as prairiechicken restoration. A movie will be shown at dusk, “Great Plains: America’s Lingering Wild.”

On Saturday, Sept. 16, the day will begin 7 to 8:30 a.m. with birding hikes at MDC’s PawneePrairie Natural Area. Participants should bring their own binoculars, cameras and field guides.

Activities will shift to The Nature Conservancy’s Dunn Ranch starting at 9 a.m. Tours of theprairie will be offered and will feature a ride on a tour wagon to see TNC’s bison herd. TNC staff will talk about the herd’s role in prairie ecology. Educational conservation sessions will be offered including plant identification, grazing nutrition, rare prairie species, pollinators, reptiles and amphibians, fire ecology, and mammals of the prairie.

Camping will be available at Dunn Ranch without hookups, or visitors can camp at Harrison County Lake with some hookups and primitive sites. Motel lodging is available in Eagleville and Bethany. A local non-profit group will operate a food concession. Booths or demonstrations will be offered by Missouri Prairie Foundation, Missouri Master Naturalists, and other prairieadvocates.

Prairie Days will also highlight the conservation efforts underway in the Grand River Grasslands, a partnership between MDC, TNC, Iowa conservation agencies, private landowners, and private, non-profit groups. MDC’s Pawnee Prairie and TNC’s Dunn Ranch offer high quality habitat in the heart of the Grand River Grasslands. MDC and partners are working to restore a functional grassland ecosystem over a broad geography that supports both production agriculture and nature. The goals include restoring Missouri’s endangered prairiechickens.

For more information about Dunn Ranch, visit http://bit.ly/2vp6agW.

(News release) JEFFERSON CITY –The majority of construction work on state routes in Missouri will stop starting Friday, September 1 at noon for the Labor Day holiday weekend.  However, late Friday night into Saturday morning, one active work zone will close the westbound/southbound direction of Interstate 44 and Interstate 55 in downtown St. Louis including the ramp from the Mississippi River Bridge to I-44/I-55 coming into Missouri. There are also many locations across the state where work zones have permanent lane closures and barriers will remain in place this weekend. Construction work across Missouri will resume Tuesday, September 5 at 9 a.m. For the locations of all state work zones, please check MoDOT’s Traveler Information Map.

Travelers should avoid downtown St. Louis between 10 p.m. Friday, September 1 through noon Saturday, September 2. All lanes of westbound I-44 will be closed from the Interstate 70 Stan Musial Mississippi River Bridge through downtown to the I-44/I-55 interchange.  The ramp from the westbound I-64/I-55 Poplar Street Bridge over the Mississippi River to southbound I-44/I-55 will also be closed during this same time. Crews are removing barrier wall and restriping the highway to reopen all lanes that have been closed due to ongoing construction work. Once the lanes reopen at noon September 2, there will not be any other work in this area until Tuesday, September 5.

The Route 65 full closure in Springfield has reopened. Motorists headed to Branson for the holiday weekend will be able to use both directions of Route 65 now that the pavement repairs are complete.

MARYVILLE, Mo. – Maryville, the home to Northwest Missouri State University, is one of the “Safest College Towns in America” for the third consecutive year, according to a recent report released by SafeWise, an online resource for home security and safety information.

Maryville rose to No. 22 on this year’s list, up from 28 last year and 32 before that. Also for the third consecutive year, it is the only Missouri college town to appear on the list.

In highlighting Maryville, Safewise praises the city for its innovative approach toward keeping crime rates low, noting the city reported fewer than 30 violent crimes in 2015.

SafeWise combined data from recent FBI statistics and identified safety-related programs and initiatives in college cities across the country to compose its list. Click here to view the entire list.

The St. Joseph School District has launched a new online incident reporting system with the hope that it helps in bullying prevention.

Dr. Solon Haynes, Dir. of Student Services with the district said at the beginning of this school year the district began using Sprigeo. He said the online reporting system will allow people to report not only bullying, but any type of harassment or threat to the school.

“Students, parents they can go online and they can either report it anonymously or they can leave their name so we can get back in touch with them to gather more information if we need it,” Dr. Haynes said. “It’s another avenue for our parents and our students to report things.”

Haynes said anyone with access to the web can use the reporting form.

“Maybe they don’t want to be seen going into the office because they’re afraid of maybe somebody retaliating against them for reporting,” Dr. Haynes said. “They can go online, it can be anonymous and in the safety of their own home.”

He said the ultimate goal is to reduce bullying incidents and harassment.

“With this online program we know exactly when a report was made because it will be time stamped through the system. So it will help us also keep track of the time frame that we need to adhere to when addressing bullying issues,” Dr. Haynes said.

He said a Sprigeo logo has been placed on each school’s individual web page for access to the reporting form. To view the form directly, CLICK HERE.