SHAWNEE COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect for an alleged car theft and robbery.

Just before 8:30p.m. Sunday, police responded to the area of 1600 Block of SW Fillmore in Topeka on the report of an Aggravated Robbery, occurring to an individual, according to Lt. Aaron Jones.

The victim reported a blue colored vehicle approached him, when a Hispanic male jumped out, wearing a gray and black striped hooded sweatshirt. The suspect approached him demanding his keys and wallet. During the robbery the suspect, indicated he had a weapon, but the weapon was never displayed and took the victims vehicle described as a Silver, 2011 Dodge Caliber, with Kansas tags.

Just before 6p.m. Christmas Eve, officers of the Topeka Police Department located the stolen Dodge Caliber near 13th and SW Harrison.

When they attempted to stop the vehicle, the driver failed to stop initiating a pursuit. The occupants abandoned the vehicle in the 600 Block of SE Lake east alley, according to Jones.

Information was developed leading to a house on the west side of the 600 block of SE Lake in search of the occupants. The house was surrounded as the vehicle was searched. 2 firearms were recovered from the vehicle; both used small caliber rifle rounds. At approximately 7pm, officers made contact with the homeowner. Police took five men and one woman from the house for questioning.

On Christmas Day, police reported Christopher Jackson, 25, was taken to the Shawnee County Department of Corrections under suspicion of aggravated robbery in relation to the theft of the silver Dodge Caliber as well as possession of stolen property in relation to the aggravated robbery of a white Pontiac G6.

KANSAS CITY (AP) — A Kansas man’s wish for two front teeth for Christmas is coming true.

A local church and friends helped raise money for Olathe man Evans Kamuru’s dental implants.

Kamuru wrote on Facebook that one front tooth broke off when he was using his teeth to cut tape and wrap presents last Christmas season. He says the other one broke in January when he was eating a waffle.

Kamuru says both teeth had crowns and were weak.

His friends created a group to help raise money for implants. Lenexa’s Gospel Outreach Center chipped in $15,000 this month, and a dentist offered a discount.

The newspaper reports that it will take months to insert the implants, but Kamuru will have two new teeth by next Christmas.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Latest on deadly shootings in St. Louis (all times local):

10 a.m.

Authorities say five people were fatally shot and several others wounded over a 24-hour span this weekend in St. Louis.

The spate of shootings happened days after the city’s police chief announced a drop in homicides and other violent crime.

Police found the first victim dead in the street around 7:40 p.m. Saturday. He had been shot in the chest.

Around 4 a.m. Sunday, officers found a wounded man and woman. Police later confirmed they had died.

Police say a fourth victim was killed around 1:10 p.m. Sunday, and a fifth was found dead around 5 p.m. Sunday.

Weekend shootings also left several people wounded, including two men who survived gunshot wounds to the chest.

No other details were immediately released, including the names of the victims or the motives.

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6:15 a.m.

Homicides and other violent crimes are down substantially in St. Louis this year, and the city’s police chief believes a strategy of focusing on high-crime areas has paid off.

Chief John Hayden presented figures along with a strategic plan of action for 2019 during a town hall meeting Wednesday. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Hayden cited figures showing that St. Louis has had 174 homicides through mid-December, compared to 205 last year, a 20-year high .

Robberies are down 25 percent, with 469 fewer reported. Burglary is down 6.2 percent and larceny is down 3.3 percent. Reported rapes rose 5 percent.

Hayden, who became chief in December 2017 , implemented a strategy of increased policing in an area of north St. Louis where much of the violence has traditionally occurred.

“We’ve seen a significant decrease in crime where it was happening the most,” Hayden said. “Look at where we started, and where we are now.”

Strategies used in the targeted area included cracking down on open-air drug markets, increased visibility in traffic patrols and ticketing, assistance from the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration, an increase in security cameras and license plate reading cameras, and implementing community programs to engage with residents.

Hayden said the department intends to implement two more areas of focus in 2019.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minnesota-based poultry producer is recalling more than 164,000 pounds of raw ground turkey products that may be contaminated with salmonella.

The Jennie-O Turkey Store products have markings saying to use or freeze by Nov. 12 or 13. The recall includes plain ground turkey and turkey with taco or Italian seasonings. The products were shipped to Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas and Wisconsin.

Food safety officials are worried that some contaminated turkey may be in people’s freezers. The recalled products have the tag P-579 marked on the lower left corner of the front of the package. Click here for more information.

The USDA says the recall was part of an investigation into a November salmonella outbreak that involved 216 patients in 38 states.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Mike Parson says a new constitutional amendment changing Missouri’s legislative redistricting process should be repealed.

Parson told The Associated Press that he opposes the “Clean Missouri” initiative approved by voters in November. He specifically cited concerns about a requirement for a state demographer to draw House and Senate maps to achieve “partisan fairness” and “competitiveness” based on the results of previous statewide elections.

Any effort to repeal the amendment would require a new measure to be submitted to voters.

Clean Missouri campaign director Sean Nicholson said the group would fight any effort to change or repeal it.

Parson said it may also be time to raise the bar for initiatives to appear on the Missouri ballot.

DETROIT (AP) — Ford is recalling more than 874,000 F-Series pickup trucks with engine block heaters in the U.S. and Canada because they can catch fire.

The recall covers certain F-150s from the 2015 through 2019 model years, as well as the 2017 through 2019 F-250, 350, 450 and 550.

The company says in documents posted Friday on the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website that water and contaminants can get into the heater cable and cause corrosion. That can cause electrical shorts and possible fires. Engine block heaters warm the engines so they can start and warm up faster in extreme cold temperatures.

The company says the risk of fire happens only when the block heater cable is plugged into an electrical outlet.

Ford has received three reports of fires in Canada, but none in the U.S. Minor property damage was reported in one incident, but there haven’t been any reports of injuries, Ford said in a statement.

Dealers will inspect and seal the cable or replace the heaters if needed. The recall is expected to start in the U.S. on Jan. 7.

F-Series pickups are the top-selling vehicle in the United States.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — A Missouri judge has denied Johnson & Johnson’s bid to overturn a $4.7 billion jury verdict awarded to 22 women who said the company’s talcum powder contributed to their ovarian cancer.

St. Louis Circuit Judge Rex Burlison, in a ruling Wednesday, cited evidence of what he called “particularly reprehensible conduct” by Johnson & Johnson.

Burlison wrote that company executives knew of the presence of asbestos in the baby powder but misrepresented the safety of the product.

A jury in July awarded $4.14 billion in punitive damages and $550 million in compensatory damages after a six-week trial.

Johnson & Johnson said in a statement that it will appeal. The company says Burlison has denied similar motions in prior cases that were ultimately overturned.

By NOMIN UJIYEDIIN 

A state audit of Kansas’s only juvenile corrections facility uncovered allegations of violence between staff members and sexual relationships between workers and the underage inmates.

A survey attempted to reach 229 current and former employees of the Kansas Juvenile Correctional Complex in Topeka. Only 48 responded.

But of those responding, seven people reported being attacked or assaulted by other staff. There were three reports of sexual relationships between staff and youth at the facility.

Other comments alleged that the facility falsified metrics by removing residents from solitary confinement during auditors’ visits.

Staff at the Kansas Legislative Division of Post Audit said that the number of responses was too low to draw definitive conclusions, but the comments were still cause for concern. The audit did not verify the responses, which were anonymous.

“The responses do provide some insight into the culture at the facility,” wrote Legislative Post Auditor Justin Stowe in the report.

Kansas state Sen. Anthony Hensley and state Rep. John Alcala requested the audit following the assault of a KJCC employee in December 2017. Kyle Rohr, then superintendent of the facility, was convicted of battery this July for grabbing an accountant’s arm after she failed to gather enough volunteers for a Christmas party. Rohr resigned following the conviction.

Alcala said he was concerned about the work environment at the facility and the culture of management at the Kansas Department of Corrections.

“No one should have to be working in that type of environment,” he said. “Physical contact, from staff to staff, employee to employee, should be zero tolerance.”

As of July’s audit, KJCC housed 171 residents aged 13 through 21. The Topeka facility provides maximum- and medium-security detention for young people convicted of charges that would be considered felonies if they were adults.

The state previously audited the KJCC in 2012, finding issues with management, safety, training and staff discipline. A follow-up audit in 2015 found that some of the problems had been resolved, while others, like outdated policies and inadequate supervision of youth at the facility, were not adequately addressed.

This year’s audit received fewer responses and revealed mixed perspectives. Six respondents to the survey agreed with the statement that “Employee morale at KJCC is high,” while 23 employees disagreed. Sixteen respondents agreed that “Appropriate actions are taken when staff violate policies,” while 21 disagreed. Twenty-three respondents agreed that they feel safe working at the facility and 12 disagreed.

Some survey respondents agreed that they felt intimidated or threatened by co-workers or management. Some agreed that they feared retaliation from peers or management.

“Staff should never be in fear of termination on a daily basis and many are scared if they ‘screw up,’ they will be fired. Even for minor things,” commented one respondent.

Another survey comment: “Anyone that speaks out about staff safety or any issues is targeted until the staff can no longer take the abuse and quits.”

The audit also received multiple comments reflecting “a pervasive ‘boys’ club’ mentality that provides preferential treatment to favored staff and encourages others to quit if they are unhappy,” and lenient treatment of residents “which puts staff in danger.”

Andy Brienzo, who conducted the audit, said the results couldn’t be projected onto every KJCC employee, but they accurately reflected the opinions of the 48 respondents.

“When you have a number of people saying similar things, or saying the same thing on a survey,” he said in a phone interview, “that lends some gravity to what they’re saying.”

Kansas Department of Corrections spokesman Samir Arif declined to comment on personnel matters. He said allegations of sexual assault are investigated according to guidelines set by the federal Prison Rape Elimination Act.

“It is absolutely the duty of every staff member of the Kansas Department of Corrections to report if there are sexual assault allegations,” Arif said.

Arif said the department had a “zero tolerance” policy for sexual abuse, but he did not clarify whether the policy included termination of employment or prosecution. Under Kansas law, incarcerated people are unable to consent to sexual activities with corrections staff.

Mike Fonkert, a juvenile justice advocate at nonprofit Kansas Appleseed, said the survey results reflected a need for change at the management level.

“These are the kids with the highest needs,” he said. “If we’ve got a facility that has infighting and staff problems… it’s not difficult to imagine that they’re not getting what they need.”

Alcala, who requested the KJCC audit, agreed.

“Any time you’re talking about a hostile work environment, physical contact, sexual assault or sexual affairs, I think that is a priority,” Alcala said. “If the corrections director hasn’t seen that and looked at that and immediately addressed it, what does that tell you?”

Nomin Ujiyediin is a reporter for the Kansas News Service. You can reach her on Twitter @NominUJ.