A house fire Thursday afternoon in Country Club Village forced crews to shutdown 59 Highway.

According to Andrew County Sheriff Bryan Atkins a call came in at 12:41 p.m. after a home at 1 Country Lane caught on fire.  When crews arrived flames were shooting from the roof.

Atkins said an investigation is underway but a lightning strike is believed to have been the cause.

Savannah Rural Fire Department was on scene as well as aid from Cosby/Helena and Filmore fire departments for tanker support.  Atkins said the accessible fire hydrant was far away so around 10 tankers assisted with water.

Andrew County Ambulance, the American Red Cross of Northwest Missouri and the Missouri State Highway Patrol were also on scene.

59 Highway was shutdown around 1:15 p.m. from business 29 to Roma Lane while crews were on scene.  As of 3 p.m. the highway was still closed.

Atkins said no one was home at the time the fire started.  No injuries reported.

A St. Joseph man has been charged in Nodaway County after allegedly breaking into a home nearly naked and assaulting two women.

34-year-old Bradley Vulgamott is charged with felonies for first degree assault, first degree burglary, and first degree property damage.

According to the Maryville Department of Public Safety officers received a report Wednesday around 1:15 a.m. of a break-in in progress at a home in the 500 block of East 3rd St. in Maryville.

Court documents state that Vulgamott used a lawn chair to break the front window.

“Mr. Vulgamott, who was naked with the exception of footwear, pushed down victim 1 to the floor,” said Kenneth Garner with MDPS in the probable cause document. “Mr. Vulgamott continued into the residence and physically attacked victim 2 and restrained her by holding her arms.  After a brief struggle Mr. Vulgamott fled the residence by the front door, which he broke in the process.”

The MDPS said there is no relationship between the victims and the suspect in this case.

Vulgamott is being held without bond pending his first court appearance.  An arraignment is set for Sept. 1.

Mosaic Life Care dedicated its newly renovated Helipad Wednesday in honor of three who perished in the line of duty four years ago.

A ceremony was held in honor of Flight Nurse Randy Bever, Flight Paramedic Chris Frakes and Pilot James Fruedenberg. The three died in a LifeNet helicopter crash in Clay County in 2011.

Sarah Cassity spoke about the dedication and touched on her memories of the three.

“Chris also had a way of being the calm during the storm,” Cassity said. “He and Randy went almost hand-in-hand.  Where there was one there was almost always the other.”

“So many people knew Randy in the emergency care community,” said Jeff Coe with LifeNet. “Anybody in 200-square-miles of St. Joe Missouri that transported anybody to Heartland or ever called the helicopter or needed an ambulance in Andrew County, or Nodaway County or Buchanan County knew Randy Bever.”

“We have to remember James who served in the Army before he came to LifeNet,” Coe said. “He was a fine pilot.  He flew straight, he flew smooth.  Like every human-being, Randy, Chris, James all of us at times we’re human-beings and when humans meet machines things happen.”

A patient, Terry Tacoronte was also killed in the crash.

At the end of the dedication family members released balloons to honor the crew.

In 2013 the NTSB investigation found that lack of fuel and texting by the pilot contributed to the crash.

 

A man was been taken into police custody after a motorcycle accident on Lovers Lane Tuesday morning sent another man to the hospital with serious injuries.

According to Traffic Sgt. Chris McBane officers responded to the 2200 block of Lovers Lane around 7:18 a.m.

“Motorcycle was westbound on Lovers Lane, lost control went down and ejected both the driver and the passenger,” McBane said. “The passenger was transported to Mosaic with serious injuries.”

The passenger, a 27-year-old St. Joseph man was transported with a serious head injury according to police.  McBane said the 25-year-old driver, also a St. Joseph man was taken into police custody for investigation of assault and to determine wither or not alcohol played a factor in the crash.

Both men were wearing helmets at the time of the crash.

Ashland was closed to traffic from around 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

Police are still investigating.

Charges of first-degree murder have been dismissed against a 16-year-old teen accused of killing his grandparents.

16-year-old Joseph Johnson was charged with two counts of first-degree murder or second-degree in the alternative last week after being certified to stand trial as an adult. Johnson is accused of shooting his grandparents James and Beverly Johnson who he lived with.

The Buchanan County Prosecutor’s office announced Friday that the office has agreed to dismiss the charge of murder in the first degree and to offer Johnson the opportunity to plead without sentencing recommendations to two counts of murder in the second degree. The plea was part of a statement made in court Friday by Johnson’s attorney and stated that the prosecutor’s office has also agreed not to file additional charges while the offer is outstanding.

The plea deal comes after a Johnson appeared in court for a preliminary hearing Friday and waived his rights to the hearing.

According to Prosecuting Attorney Dwight Scroggins the U.S. Supreme Court does not allow for the death penalty to be sought for a juvenile even after being certified as an adult.  Also, Scorggins said the law requires cases involving a juvenile to have alternative sentences including life with the possibility of parole.  First-Degree murder only offers the option of the death penalty or life without parole.

Second-degree murder offers several alternatives including life with the possibility of parole.

In court documents officials say Johnson was stopped in Platte County for invalid plates displayed on his grandfather’s car. According to the affidavit, officials learned the suspect told an acquaintance on the phone he believed he had murdered his grandparents. Both were subsequently found fatally shot at their home at 8610 Hurlingen Road.

In the court affidavit, Lieutenant Collie said the defendant had approximately $600 on him, along with extra clothes, and a credit card belonging to his grandparents, and was carrying directions to Louisville Kentucky with him when he was arrested. He was just 30 to 40 minutes away from the crime scene when he was stopped.